Gravity Galaxy
by jawmax
Summary: For fifteen years Dipper, Mabel, Gideon, and Pacifica were lost in a distant galaxy. Now that they have returned to earth we will hear the tales of how they struggled to get home and continue to adjust to life back on earth.
1. Departure and Return

Gravity Galaxy

Chapter 1: Departure and Return

It was 2013, one year after the summer the Pines family defeated Bill Cipher and Dipper and Mabel had returned to Gravity Falls for another Summer. So far, the twins haven't stumbled on anything as dangerous Bill in Gravity Falls but tonight was their first overnight mystery hunt on their own. Mabel wanted to invite all their friends to make it a camping trip but most of them couldn't come. Soos was opening a new exhibit in the Mystery Shack tomorrow. Wendy and her friends had to go to a concert Robbie was playing that night. McGucket and his son Tate were out of town so Fiddleford could attend his family reunion for the first time in over thirty years. Grenda was having dinner with both Marius and her own family while Candy had to leave town for a few days to help her grandmother who just hurt her hip. Mabel made Waddles stay at home because she was worried about predators, Stan and Ford stayed home because the whole point was that the kids could stay out over night by themselves. The only ones who could come along were Gideon Gleeful and Pacifica Northwest.

The Mystery Hunt was the search for a legendary treasure the people of Gravity Falls called the Dragon Fire Fortune, named for the gang of outlaws that stole it. Dipper was writing down all that happened that day is his own Journal. "You almost finished, Dipper?" Mabel asked. "I almost got the chili ready. I really hope I can make it as good Dad does."

"Just getting this last sketch done. You didn't eat all the stuff for the s'mores, did you?" Dipper said closing his journal.

"Some more what?" Pacifica asked.

Mabel gasped. "No not more. S'mores! One the greatest camping treats ever! Chocolate and marshmallow hugged by two sweet graham crackers! You are absolutely getting some tonight."

"Uh, Mabel the chili looks like it's going to boil over." Gideon said.

"Oh! Thanks Gideon." Mabel flashed a smile, no braces in sight.

"Your welcome, and might I say I never thought your smile could get any prettier."

Mabel lost her smile. "Gideon what did I say about flirting?"

"Not to, sorry." Gideon slumped his shoulders and turned around. Then he whispered to himself. "Just keep being someone worthy of loving Gideon. If it is meant to be it will happen."

They all sat down around the camp fire and began to eat. "Good job on the chili." Dipper said. "Just as good as dads."

"Thanks Dipper! This has been a great first week of summer! Yes, I wish more of our friends could have come with us, but we have the whole rest of the summer for more fun and adventures!"

Pacifica took a sip and said. "I'm just glad Lazy Susan gave me the weekend off and my parents let me go on this trip even if it just because the Dragon Fire Fortune was stolen from one of our family banks so hunting it down was kind of a family tradition I would be expected to go on when I turned eighteen so they just saw it as me going early."

"Well, you helped us out a lot today. Thank you, Pacifica." Dipper gave a small smile, Pacifica turned away while she gave a small blush while the fire popped.

After finishing the chili and having s'mores the kids each got into their respective tents, one for the girls and one for the boys. "Hey Pacifica, I saw you were blushing. You keep trying to deny it but you and Dipper LIKE each other!"

Pacifica groaned. "Look, Mabel even if I like your brother you guys can only come here in the summer. Being together a few months a year, and having just an online relationship for the rest? Do you really think that would work for either us? And what about college? I know Dipper plans on going to a technical school and my dad won't settle for me going to anything less than an Ivy League school. I had almost a year to think about it. Even if we fall in love and that is a BIG if, everything is just stacked against us. Even if I'm not like my parents; my path is pretty much set. Sometimes things are just not meant to be." Mabel was going to say something, but she couldn't find the words.

In the boys' tent Dipper pulled out a plastic container. "What is that?" Gideon asked.

Dipper sighed. "My acne has been kinda bad for the past few months, the dermatologist my parents took me to says I have to rub these medicated pads on face twice a day to keep me from having a big break out." Dipper held up a wet looking cotton pad.

"Well that is not something I'm look forward to in a few years. Dipper thank you for letting me come on this trip, I know things between us in the past were bad, but I really wanted show you guys how much I changed since last summer. Not that I was much help today, all this time and I can't seem to do anything on my own."

Dipper finished wiping his face and place the pad in a small trash bag. "You were more help today then you think. If you didn't throw me that horn, we would all be dead right now. You saved all our lives man."

"Thanks for saying that Dipper but I really need to get better at doing things for myself." With that the lights went out in both tents.

A few hours later a bright light shined on the campsite waking the children. "What is going on?" Dipper asked groggily. The next thing he knew the tent was ripped opened and he was grabbed by webbed hands. "Hey, let go of me!" Mabel and Pacifica screamed looking at the toad like faces of the things that were taking them. The whole group was lifted off the ground into a large sphere-shaped ship that flew off into the stars.

Grunkle Stan and Ford found the campsite the next day when the kids didn't come back. Then began the most serious investigation Gravity Falls seen in years. Ford ran every test he could think of, the whole town went through the forest with a fine-tooth comb, even the magical creatures of the forest helped in the search but except for some faint energy readings they found nothing of the children except the items left in the camp. Weeks passed, then months as summer ended but still nothing.

Fifteen years later…

In the forest where the still unfound stone remains of Bill Cipher rested the trees began to rustle and then the roar of engines could be heard. Moments later a large red rectangular ship with a large dome in the front with a large door below it and prongs in the back that held blue glowing engines; came down and landed on Bill crushing him to pieces. The door lowered down becoming a ramp, four people walked out while the sound of police sirens screamed. The first was a man with brown hair wearing a blue shirt with black pants, boots, and coat. On his boots were metal devices that looked like jets. On one hand he wore a single metal glove with a green crystal on the back of the hand. On his belt was a T-shaped device. He also had a birthmark on his forehead in the shape of the Big Dipper. The second was woman with shoulder length brown hair the same shade as the man. She wore a green blouse with matching pants and a brown pair of boots and skirt. On the skirt was a yellow belt with a holster with a ray gun with a grappling hook attached to it. She stood to left of the man with the birthmark. The third to come out the door was a slightly muscular man with a short white flat top haircut. He wore a yellow tank top with green pants and brown boots. Strapped to his back was a jet pack with silver orbs on the straps. He held a yellow rifle that had six square barrels. This man placed his hand on the woman's shoulder. The last to come out was a woman with a long blonde ponytail. She wore a black jump suit with boots with two long daggers hanging off her belt. On her forehead was a black and yellow visor. As she came up on the first mans' right, they held hands. "Finally, we're back." Dipper said.


	2. Childhoods End

Chapter 2: Childhoods End

Like years before when the Gideon robot blew up the ship was surrounded by police cars, news vans, and the people of Gravity Falls. Out of one car a red-haired woman in a sheriffs' department uniform styled in chignon bun. "Okay I want a perimeter set up! No one is to go near that thing until I give the okay!"

"But Sheriff Frost, shouldn't we wait for the army or the C.I.A. or something to get here?" one officer asked.

"I'm sure the government is sending someone but until they get here, I am responsible for the townspeople's safety so get to it!" The Sheriff said. "Wait a minute." She looked at the people that came out of the ship. "Dipper?"

As she made her way to ship the four space travelers stepped off ramp. Dipper spoke. "Ixcia, close all entrances and put up the shield. We don't want anyone getting inside and messing with things they don't understand."

"Confirmed, how long until I engage emergency protocols?" A voice from the ship came out of speakers.

"If our talks with the authorities go well twenty-four, thirty hours tops." Mabel said with her usual happy attitude. A blue sphere formed around the ship and disappeared. A lot of townsfolk gasped.

Pacifica had a concerned look on her face. "I know I was out voted but are you guys sure it was a good idea to enter the atmosphere uncloaked? For all we knew someone would have just shoot at us with nukes. Ixcia can take a lot of punishment but she's not indestructible."

Gideon gave a chuckle. "Paz, even if they tired to take a shot at us you know we'd have no problem dodging those missiles with all the modifications I made to the engines over the years."

Dipper then spoke. "We need the whole world to know what's coming. Every country in the world saw us, and with all these news cameras here there is no way the government can cover this up." Dipper then noticed the sheriff. "Someone's coming."

"Dipper is that you? All of you?" Sheriff Frost took off her hat.

"Wendy? It's been years. So, you're a cop now?" Dipper said.

Wendy had tears in her eyes. "You were all declared dead eight years ago! We never found anything that could tell us what happened to you! And now…" Wendy embraced Dipper not seeing the jealous look on the face of Pacifica. "You're all back." Wendy then turned to the crowd. "It's all okay people! It's the Pines twins, Gideon, and Pacifica! Fifteen years ago, these four were kids who disappeared during a camping trip. Now we can all guess what happed to them but now they are back home. I'm sure they will have a lot to say to the press about this, but you know the government is calling first dibs, so I am going to take them the station to answer a few questions and we'll see where we'll all go from there." She then turned back to others. "Is it okay to leave this thing here? Wendy said pointing to the ship.

Mabel gave an easy-going wave. "Ixcia won't hurt anyone. Oh, and her shields can withstand tank fire so tell any government agents or whatever to not even try to break in. We'll tell all about whatever gizmos they want in good time."

Wendy gave a nod. "Right, well let's get you guys to the station. Fredricks! Get a couple of squad cars ready to take them! I need to make a phone call first." As her four long lost friends made their way to the cars Wendy pulled out her phone and hit a number on speed dial. "You saw the news, right? It's the Pines twins and the others and they are going to need your help! Get to Gravity Falls as fast as you can! How can you help? They need you to do your job for them. Just hurry to the police station. I know you can do it because you owe one of them big time." Wendy hung up her phone and walked to her car.

When the group got to the station several government agents surrounded them. "Stay where you are and put your weapons on the ground!"

Dipper held up his hands. "It's okay, we are going to turn on some anti-tempering tech with our gear and we'll put them down." After pressing a few controls everyone placed their weapons on the ground. When Dipper took his glove off Wendy noticed what looked an old chemical burn.

One agent walked up behind Pacifica placed his hand on her shoulder. "Now come with …" In an instant Pacifica flipped the agent over her shoulder and placed him in a choke hold. She seemed to have a glazed look in her eyes.

"Pacifica!" Mabel yelled. Every agent pulled out their guns while Wendy had one hand out to stop everyone but had another hand on her gun.

Pacifica blinked, her eyes back to normal, and let go of the agent. "Sorry! Force of habit."

"Yeah, guys unless you're around her a lot like the three of us it's best not to sneak up on her okay?" Dipper said.

As they walked Gideon was rubbing his hands nervously. "I feel naked without my gun."

Mabel got close to Gideon. "Don't worry Giddy, you have all the guns you need right here." She squeezed his biceps.

Wendy couldn't believe what she saw and heard. "_Pacifica was a part time waitress who liked to spend her parent's money, now she nearly killed a highly trained agent without even thinking! Gideon was a chubby little guy and now he's totally jacked! Before Mabel could barely stand Gideon and now she has pet names for him and feels his muscles? And Dipper how did you hurt your hand like that? What have you guys been through in space?_"

They were led to the interrogation room where Dipper and Mabel saw a familiar face. "I'm Agent Trigger, the lead in this investigation. I am going ask you questions, you're going to answer them and then you going to show me everything about that ship. Are we clear?" Agent Trigger was different from the last time the twins saw him. His hair was greyer, and balding; he was showing signs of his age. "Now let's start with who you are and how you came by an alien ship?"

Dipper gave a sigh; glad that Trigger didn't remember him or his sister with what happened with him last time. "I'm Mason Andrew Pines but most people call me Dipper. Fifteen years ago, myself, my sister, and our two friends were abducted by aliens while on a camping trip."

"We have the missing persons case file here in the station." Wendy said.

"Noted." Agent Trigger said. "I still want the rest of you to state your names for the record."

Pacifica took Dippers' hand. "My name is Pacifica Elise Pines, before I married Mason my last name was Northwest."

"_They're married?"_ Wendy thought. _"Then again they have been with each other for most of their lives now. So, unless there were some aliens that they would be willing to date their options were very limited."_

"My name is Mabel Sarah Gleeful. I am Dippers' twin sister."

_"Them too? Mabel couldn't stand him before! Yes, he was trying to be better when they left but still…"_

"I'm Gideon Charles Gleeful. Mabel is my wife as you could guess."

Agent Trigger wrote something down. "Alright, the hazmat tent should be set up. You people know you may have exposed all of us to who knows how many diseases."

"Are you serious?" Pacifica had her same annoyed look she always had.

"We spent two weeks orbiting Alpha Centauri having our ship's computer run every scan and medical test she had twice to make there was nothing on board that could be dangerous to the planet! You have no idea how many samples I had to give!" Mabel yelled.

Dipper spoke next. "Agent Trigger we didn't come back home without thinking. We could have cloaked our ship, we have that capability, but we wanted the whole world to see us. To believe us when we say that a threat is coming to our planet. We are more than willing to share what we know about the technology we found so we can defend our people, but it will take an unprecedented amount of cooperation from the nations and corporations of the world before we can even begin to implement a defense."

"How immediate is this threat?" Trigger asked.

"Best case scenario three hundred years. That's how long we have to advance our technology by five thousand years and expand our resources as much as we can because one solar system is not going to be enough let alone one planet."

"And what reason should we have to believe any of you have to say? For all we know who or whatever took you have turned you against your own people, they had fifteen years to do it."

"And what evidence do you have that they have been turned?" It was a man with a black suit and a red tie. He had a long nose and slick black hair. "Robert S. Valentino attorney at law, and from here on out you are not to ask my clients questions without me present."

"How did you get in here?" Trigger asked.

"I was wondering when you would get here." Wendy said.

"After you called, I had to explain to my bosses that representing the four people who are about to be the world's biggest celebrities would be a good idea."

"Robbie is a lawyer now…" Mabel said looking nervous.

Dipper rubbed his temples. "Okay, we have our legal representation, I think maybe right now the best place for us to start is at the beginning."

Fifteen Years Ago, …

Dipper didn't know how long he was out. Looking around the unfamiliar grey room he saw all his friends still in their sleep wear, suspended in mid-air by that light he saw earlier only now realizing that was too was in the air. He then saw that the others were waking up.

"Dipper? Where are we?" Mabel asked. Then a wall slid open and two of the toad-like aliens that abducted them came in.

Pacifica was struggling against nothing screaming at the top of her lungs. "You slimy freaks! Let us go or my parents are going to sue you back to the stone age!"

"Pacifica, maybe let's not antagonize our abductors?" Dipper said. The creatures made some grunting like sounds and then a wall panel opened and one of them grabbed a rod like device with a glowing tip.

"Uh, friends what is he doing?" Gideon asked as the toad walked behind him and then grabbed his pajama bottom. "No! I don't want to be probed!" That was when they began to panic. But then the whole room began to shake, and three different looking aliens came in wearing matching green outfits holding guns and shot the toads with beams of light.

"Please help us!" Mabel cried but one of the aliens punched her in the face knocking her out.

"Mabel!" Dipper yelled before an alien hit him in the face with the butt of his gun, blacking him out.

"Dipper! Dipper wake up!" The next thing he knew he was in a cage with Mabel shaking him awake.

"Mabel what's going on?"

"Bad stuff Dipper." They looked around outside the cage. They were in a large red lit room with a raised platform in front of a large screen, all around them were other cages filled with aliens. Several other aliens were all around the room. They looked at the cage next to them.

"Gideon! Pacifica!" Dipper yelled as a muscular yellow alien in the same outfit from earlier opened their friends cage and pulled Pacifica out speaking in his native language. As she screamed the alien placed a small cylinder behind her left ear. It made a clicking sound.

"Ow! That hurt you troll!" Pacifica yelled. The alien said something they didn't understand. "Wait, I understood that." A collar was then snapped around her neck and she was thrown back in the cage. She tried to run back out, but the brute pushed a button on his belt shocking her.

"Are you alright?" Gideon asked before he was pulled out. This repeated until they were all injected and collared.

"Where are we? Why are you doing this?" Dipper asked.

The alien spoke. "You are in the Goldon Nebula slave market. I gave you those translator implants so you can understand the orders of your new owners."

"Slave market?!" The kids all said.

"You didn't think space pirates like us boarded that Zoxnar ship to save you?" A horn of some kind blared and, on the platform, a tall skinny looking green man with large ears stepped up. "There's the captain, sale will be starting soon."

The captain cleared his throat. "Welcome all creatures! The sale will begin shortly. For those who are here for the first time here is how it works. You are free to browse, if you see a being you wish purchase place your bid on the provided tablet. The highest bid on each slave wins. The shock collars are ours so they must be removed before you leave with your new property, you'll have to discipline them yourself. Now that you know let's get to the bidding."

Many looked at the group of friends, most did not seem to be interested in them but unfortunately there were a few of them, like a grey skinned woman with two horns. "You lot look scrawny, certainly there are more capable warriors here, but I need all the solders I can get."

Next was a man whose face was covered in a filter mask; he also had a blue snake like tail instead of legs. "I never seen beings quite like you." The eyes of his mask glowed. "Yes, one of you seems to be a more perfect specimen. I should bid most on that one."

The last one was a bird like man in a grey coat with red feathers and a beak with sharp teeth. "You can't do this! It's wrong to buy and sell people!" Dipper yelled.

Mabel yelled as well. "Yeah! What is wrong with you people! You're all being such creeps!"

The pirate from earlier was about to shock them when the birdman grabbed his wrist. "Don't, I like them they got spirit."

"I never pegged you as the type to buy slaves Darnak." The pirate said.

"I need new crew, and everyone knows my reputation. Can I bid on them as a pair?"

"Sure, no problem."

About half an hour later the captain was back on the platform. "All right all bids are now final. Now we will go in you assigned numbers to see what you got. First is the gentleman from the Azura Crown Star Cluster." On the screen was Pacifica's picture with some numbers the humans couldn't read.

Her cage was opened, and she was dragged out. "No!" She screamed before the man in the mask used his tail and another injection tube to sedate her.

"Best quan I ever spent." He said taking the collar off.

"Please don't take her!" Mabel cried.

"She has a life back home please!" Dipper begged before they were both shocked as they saw Pacifica carried away.

The captain announced the next winner. "Now for the lovely Neryo, General of the Obsidian Brotherhood."

Gideon's face appeared. "Damn it! All I got was one runt! At least the money I saved can be used to buy more weapons." Neryo opened the cage and took the collar off. "I am going make the most of this little man. I am going to turn you into a soldier no matter how hard my men have to push you." She said to Gideon as she held him above her head.

Gideon pleaded as he was taken away. "Mabel! Dipper! Do something! Please don't let her take meeeeeee!"

Mabel was in tears. "This has to be nightmare! Please Dipper tell me we're going to wake up back in Gravity Falls!"

"I want that too Mabel. I want that too." Dipper said sacred of what was next.

A few more slaves were sold before what the twins dreaded came to pass. "And for a first-time bidder the smuggler Captain Darnak." Both Dipper's and Mabel's Faces appeared. They were taken out of the cage with Darnak pointing a gun at them.

"Don't do anything stupid, your better off with me than any of these yahoos." Darnak said as the collars were taken off.

"What about our friends?" Dipper asked.

"Long gone by now. Forget them. Here on out I am going to show you how to be the best smugglers in twenty-three systems. A life of adventure and riches await." Darnak said.

"You sure you can handle the two of them Darnak?" The pirate captain asked.

"They're still young. A few beatings like my Mama gave me will keep them in line until they grow to like the life." They walked out of the bidding room and into a corridor. Darnak pulled out a T-shaped metal device from his coat. "Ixcia, update crew manifest." A green beam of light came out of the machine and passed over Dipper. "Now say your name into the Scantrix. Go on say it!"

"Dipper." Dipper said trying so hard to think of something they could do but nothing that would work came to mind.

Darnak did the same thing with the machine to Mabel. "Okay now your turn."

"Mabel." It looked like Mabel was about to break down.

"Good you are now registered crew of my ship."

The terminal flashed and Ixcia spoke through it. "Captain, scans just picked two Imperium cruisers coming out of Hyper Jump."

"Shit. All right kids time to go!" But before they could move the whole station was shaken and the ceiling came down on Darnak's head. All they could see of the captain was his arm still holding the scantrix and a growing pool of purple blood.

"Dipper, Mabel please respond." Ixcia's voice spoke.

Dipper picked up the device. "Yes?"

"Please your lives are in danger. You must follow the provided map to the ship." Ixcia said.

"Why should we trust you?!" Dipper yelled. "Ever since we were taken everyone hasn't cared at all for any us!"

"Yeah!" Mabel yelled. "You stupid aliens want to use me, my friends, and my brother for bad things! How can we know you that you won't try to hurt us too?"

Ixcia spoke. "Captain Darnak registered you both as crew members of his ship the Ixcia. I am the Artificial Intelligence of that ship and one of my primary directives is to see to the safety and wellbeing of the crew so long as it does not conflict with the orders of the captain. The captain is dead so there is nothing to countermand this directive."

"Mabel do think we can trust her?" Dipper asked.

"I…I don't know but we can't stay here." Mabel said.

"Alright then. According to this map we go down this hall and then turn left. After that it should be the fourth airlock on the right." They ran as fast as they could while the market fell apart around them. "There it is!"

Mabel hit the control next to the door and they ran inside and found themselves in a yellow colored living space. Ixcia's voice seemed to come from everywhere. "Closing airlock. Releasing docking clamps and engaging engines." The Twins saw a window and walked up to it. Outside they saw that the market was an umbrella shaped space station in orbit of a white gas giant. It was being shot at by gold cone shaped ships with what looked like ornate spears jutting out of them in neat little rows. "Shields to maximum. Plotting course." The ship rocked with the hits of weapons fire. Hyper Jump in 5…4…3… 2…1." Suddenly everything outside seemed to stretch and the vanish into a white and blue flash of light as stars of all colors zoomed by them.

"So, will they follow us?" Mabel asked.

"No, it is impossible to trace a ship in Hyper Jump. This is common knowledge."

Dipper look around the room. "Is there something we can look at while we talk to you?"

"Please direct your attention to the wall opposite of the window." They saw a small white orb on the wall that lit up and then projected a hologram of a green cube with a yellow diamond on one side. "Does this help?"

"Yes, thank you. Well to explain we were abducted from our home planet. Our own people have only gone as far as our moon."

"You could tell that your captain was dead, does that mean you could tell where our two friends like us are?" Mabel asked.

Ixcia's cube tilted slightly. "The captain ordered me to run an active scan on the whole station in the event a quick extraction was required. I did detect life signs like your own, however the ships they were on gone into Hyper Jump before the attack."

Mabel lowered her head. "They're gone…"

Dipper hugged Mabel and the looked her right in the eye. "No, Mabel! We have clues to where they were taken, and we have this ship. Together you and I faced some of the weirdest and scariest things I could imagine including Bill! We are going to find Gideon and Pacifica, free them, and then we are going to find a way home to Earth! We're the Mystery Twins and there is nothing in the universe we can't face together!"

Mabel got her smile back. "Well listen to you sounding all brave and stuff. Guess we're both growing up more than I thought." Mabel the turn to the cube. "What do we call you? You are helping us with our biggest adventure yet!"

The cube went back to its earlier position. "The ship and I are one so you may call me Ixcia and as members of my crew I will support you in your efforts.

It would be years before the Twins would find their friends again but now they had this ship to aid them and carry them across the stars and through the trails ahead.


	3. New Home, Old Home

Chapter 3

New Home, Old Home.

Dipper turned to the projection of Ixcia. "Okay first thing we need to do to figure out where to look for our friends. Ixcia what do you know about the Azure Crown Star Cluster or the Onyx Brotherhood?"

Ixcia's avatar disappeared and was replace with a holographic map of a four-armed galaxy with a flashing blue dot showing their current location. "The Azure Crown Star Cluster is a region of this galaxy made up of around five hundred thousand stars-systems." The star chart highlighted and zoomed into a group of stars that looked like blue crown at one edge of the galaxy. Then the map zoomed out and highlighted several star systems on the center of map. "The Onyx Brotherhood is an armed rebellion against the Grand Cosmic Imperium operating in over six hundred star-systems."

Mabel looked at the map. "It looks all the spots where Gideon could be are in are in between us and where we have to look for Pacifica. So, I guess we need to look for him first. Ixcia set a course to the closest one."

The map shrunk down back to Ixcia's avatar. "I am afraid there are some more mundane concerns that need to be addressed first. While I set a course to safeguard your lives my directives dictate that a new captain must be chosen before I can perform anything beyond basic and emergency functions.

"It's just the two of us right now." Dipper said. "I don't think either of us wants to boss the other around so what do you say Mabel; same as the lake, Co-Captains?"

Mabel nodded. "Yeah, Co-Captains."

The diamond on Ixcia grew and shrank. "I do not understand."

"It means you don't follow orders we don't agree on."

"Very well captains."

Dipper rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Just call us by our names."

"Very well Dipper. We also have monetary concerns as well as the legal transference of all of Captain Darnak's assets to your ownership including myself. With your permission I would like to set course for Arfak 4; a planet that has the legal offices we need as well as a client who is expecting our cargo. We need the Quan he will pay us as Captain Darnak spent most of our funds purchasing you."

"I'm guessing Quan is money. Okay, I guess we don't have much choice. Set a course."

"Mabel do you agree?"

"Yeah, from now on unless we say so you should assume, we agree. That could get annoying." Mabel said.

"Very well, estimated time to arrival three galactic standard days. Now I recommend you tour the ship to familiarize yourselves with my layout."

Just then a growl came from the twins' stomachs. "Can we make the first stop the kitchen? We haven't eaten since yesterday." Dipper asked.

"Of course. This is the Common Area, designed for the crew's relaxation or that of any passengers we may have aboard." It was with this the twins noticed the two couches and table in the room then a door opened.

"Guess that's where we're going next." Mabel said.

They entered a room that had cabinets and odd-looking appliances and another projection orb. "This is the galley. As you requested there is food here however my scans show that the food Captain Darnak stocked for himself is poisonous for your species so the only edible food for you are algae bars that are used for emergency rations. One should provide enough nutrition for one standard galactic day." One of the cabinets opened filled with green spongy bars.

Mabel and Dipper each took a bite. "Oh man that tastes awful!" Dipper said with a sour look on his face.

Mabel's was no better. "It tastes like barf wrapped in a gym sock covered in pond scum! Are you sure we can eat this stuff?"

"I am sorry, but it is the only food item aboard that won't kill you until we reach Arfak 4." Ixcia said.

"Well just one a day won't be too bad. Right Mabel?" Dipper asked.

Mabel shoved the bar into her mouth and chewed and swallowed it as fast as she could. "As long as you promise that we'll get something better in three days."

Ixcia changed her avatar into an arrow. "Please follow me." They followed Ixcia back to the common area and to an adjacent hallway. As they entered noticed another door leading to the right side of the ship next to them and six other doors with three on each side leading to a finale large set of doors at the end. "These are the living quarters. Each room has a bed and a terminal to access my data."

Mabel open one of the doors. "This is nice. When we get Gideon and Pacifica back, they can each have their own room. That leaves three for passengers."

Dipper held up his hand. "Mabel remember what we talked about with Mom about why we needed separate rooms after you started wearing a bra and we've only been sharing the attic at the Shack this summer because we've hung some old blankets on a line between our beds?"

"Yes, I remember. We'll have separate rooms. So which room do you want?"

"I may take Darnack's room after we look through some his stuff maybe we can sell it and his food."

Ixcia spoke. "You are both young for your species and you are siblings?"

Dipper looked up at the ceiling to speak. "Yes, we're twins and we're thirteen years old on our planet at least. We are considered adolescents of our people."

"This alters some of the parameters of my second directive. Your education is most likely incomplete, and to provide for your well being I must also provide for and assess this area of your development.

"Boo!" Mabel said. "We've only had one week of summer vacation and you want us to go back to school now?

"Mabel, this is serious!" Dipper said. "At that slave market we couldn't even read the numbers there! We are in an alien spaceship which probably takes very complicated math that we would learn in college to operate! If we are going to rescue our friends, we are going to need to learn everything we can. I'm sorry Mabel but our vacation is over at least until we get back home."

Mabel sighed. "I know but it's not fair."

"Perhaps this will cheer you up." Ixcia said as the large set of doors opened. "This is one of the most important rooms of the ship. The Bridge." The twins enter the room that was mostly a transparent dome with four chairs; three at computer terminals at the sides and one in the center of the room with a u-shaped control stick connected to it. A large projection orb was on the floor and it made a large version of Ixcia's avatar. As she spoke each terminal lit up. "The stations here are Navigation where you can chart a course and scan for hazards, next to that is Engineering is where you control the allocation of power and adjust the settings of the ships systems, across from that is Tactical which controls our shields, weapons, and cloak…"

"This is so cool!" Mabel said. "When can we blow something up?"

"As a cargo ship my weapon systems are not as powerful as a dedicated warship. However, my hull is made of highly durable titanium vorkanite alloy. Along with my high capacity shields I often withstand attacks until the cloak or hyper jump can be engaged."

Dipper had thoughtful look on his face. "So, against the really tough guys our best bet is hold out until we can hide or run."

Ixcia continued. "The central station is the Helm. This is where you will learn to directly pilot the ship."

Dipper gave Mabel a smile. "Hear that Mabel, part of our schooling is going to be learning how to fly a spaceship."

Mabel jumped up and down. "That's going to beat the heck out of Driver Ed!"

"But now that I think about it; you know we're from a planet that's primitive compared to others you know of. Wouldn't teaching us how to use all this tech violate some noninterference law? You know let less advanced civilizations progress naturally?"

Ixia then said. "I am not aware of a law like that in fact several species advance primitive species to turn their worlds into vassal states."

Mabel nodded. "Okay, so there's no problem with teaching us how to fly you."

"Dipper, Mabel there are still sections of the ship that you need to see." Ixcia said. Please go to the starboard side ship."

Mabel looked confused. "And starboard is…"

"The right side of the ship." Dipper said. They made their way back to the door that they saw earlier which led to a corridor with small windows on one side and two doors on the other. The first door opened, and Dipper and Mabel went inside.

"This is the ships Lavatory," Ixcia said showing a room with two stalls, one large and one small.

"We can mix chemicals here?" Mabel asked.

Dipper smacked his head. "Lavatory is another word for bathroom Mabel."

"Oh, good I was wondering where it was." Mabel opened the large stall a saw a large black device hanging from the ceiling over a black platform that had horizontal bars sticking out of it.

"Ixcia, what is that thing?" Dipper asked.

"That is a vibrational cleaner. It is uses subsonic vibrations to clean a being's body or clothes placed on the racks."

Mabel gave Dipper a light punch in the shoulder. "Now you don't have an excuse for not washing your clothes."

Dipper groaned but then had a thought and then spoke. "Mabel our clothes were left back on earth except for our pajamas. So, after we get the money on the planet, we're going to not only buy food but new clothes too."

"Well as long as they have what I need to knit some sweaters I'll be happy."

Next the tour took them to a white room with two beds and robotic arms hanging from a track on the ceiling. There were also several cabinets with clear doors. "This is the Sick Bay. Here I can attend to any injuries or illness. There are several medicines stocked here."

Dipper couldn't contain his growing excitement. "Ixcia, you are amazing! You can scan and map places all over this galaxy! You can pilot yourself with awesome defenses. You're willing to be our teacher and doctor!"

"Thank you, Dipper. But I am only doing what I was designed and programed to do. Now there are two more sections of the ship." They went to the rear of the ship. "This is the Engine Room. This also houses my life support and artificial gravity systems. My engines run on a matter anti-matter reaction focused through a Vyron crystal matrix enabling faster than light travel." The engine was a sphere connected to four cylinders with a glowing blue center. One of the tubes began sparking and a small grey mushroom shaped robot with three prongs on the bottom that made it float, two arms with hands that each had three fingers, and a single wide red visor eye. It immediately began to repair the part. "That is our repair drone, it repairs damage to my systems."

Mabel got close to the robot. "Well you're a cute little guy. What's his name?"

"It does not have a name. It only has a serial number. 1AM-5005."

Mabel thought for a moment. "If you change the numbers into letters…I am Soos! Yeah, he fixes things around here like Soos does back home. Yeah, how about the name Soostron?"

Dipper gave Mabel a disapproving look. "Isn't that the name you used when we tried mind controlling Soos?"

"It will better for an actual robot Dipper." Mabel waved Dipper off. "So, what do you say? Do you like the name Soostron?" She asked the robot.

The robot made some beeping and whistling noises in response. Ixcia then said. "Your translator implants are not designed for machine language. I will translate for it. It says that however you wish refer to it; it will respond and serve."

Dipper shrugged. "Okay Soostron it is. But can we can call Soostron him? I don't think either of us are comfortable using the term it to describe something we will be interacting with for the foreseeable future."

"I will take this as an order. Soostron show them to the Cargo Bay."

They followed Soostron to one of four circular lifts that lead to a red room that was a big as all the other rooms combined with several large boxes. "Wow, this room is really big!" Mabel shouted making an echo.

"So those boxes are our cargo? What's in them?" Dipper asked.

Ixcia answered. "Various mechanical parts."

Mabel walked up to one of the crates and gave it a push not moving it an inch. "How are we going to unload all those things?"

"Please direct your attention to the ceiling." They looked up to see two machines hanging by large claws on cables. One looked like a headless black robot the other was ovular in shape, white in color with a dim blue light along the bottom with handlebars sticking out the top and small boxes attached on either side.

"What are those things?" Dipper asked.

"One is a power loader with controls to mimic the operator's movement. The other is a personal flight vehicle that the former captain used in areas where I was required to stay docked or in spaces too narrow for me to maneuver."

Mabel squealed. "This just keeps getting better and better! We have a robot suit and a jet bike!"

"They are not legally yours yet. As I have stated on Arfak 4 you will need to read and sign the digital legal documents for ownership of this ship and all on it to be passed to you. Documents which will be in a language that you do not know how to read. I recommend you return to the common area so you can be comfortable while we have your first lesson." Ixcia said.

Dipper gave a nod. "Right, we got a lot to learn if we going to find our friends and go home."

Mabel sighed. "I guess summer's over."

For the next three days they had lessons in the dominant written language of the galaxy, mathematics, and stellar phenomenon. Dipper took over Darnak's old room next to the cockpit while Mabel decided on the room across from Dipper. Then they arrived at Arfak 4.

"Wow, it almost looks like Earth." Dipper said looking down on the planet.

"So where do we go to down there?" Mabel asked.

"One moment…I have received the coordinates the local Grand Cosmic Imperium legal affairs office closest to our client. Setting course."

"Grand Cosmic Imperium? That name sounds a bit pretentious." Dipper said.

"They are the dominant power in this and several other galaxies." Explained Ixcia. They flew to a large city with elevated landing pads for ships connected to skyscrapers. After they landed the cargo bay door opened and the twins stepped outside. "Dipper, Mabel, can you hear me? Ixcia voice seemed come from right behind their left ears.

"We sure do Ixcia." Mabel said with a grin into the communicator she wore on her wrist just like the one Dipper was wearing. "Thanks for telling us about these things. Now we can talk and find each another no matter what planet we're on."

"Good, my link to your translator implants will not only allow me long range communication with you but also allow me to find your location so long as you are in my scanning range. Once you find your friends I should easily link to their implants as well."

"Okay, Ixcia show us the way to this office." said Dipper. They got onto to a flying bus and Dipper kept looking at all the different kinds of aliens. "Look at them all Mabel. There is enough here for hundreds of journals and this is just one planet!"

"Just remember that we got to find Gideon and Pacifica."

"Of course, but we'll probably be at this for a while so maybe I should put down some entries in the ships log since my journal is back on earth."

They got to another tower and went inside with a long line to the reception desk. "Guess some things are the same no matter where in universe you are." Mabel groaned. It took a good ten minutes until they got to the to the receptionist who had tentacles instead of arms. "Excuse us?"

"Yes, how may your Imperium help you today?" The receptionist asked.

Dipper took a breath and tried to sound calm. "Yes, we're the crew of the Ixcia and our captain died. Our ship contacted you."

"Oh yes, you need to see Mr. Harn. His office is down that hall, sixth door on the left." The receptionist pointed her tentacle in the direction for them to go.

The Pines twins entered the office and found Mr. Harn to be blue skinned man with ears that were pointed with tips that curved like hooks. Next to him was what looked like a humanoid rabbit lady with green fur and a long tail. "Greetings. So, you represent the crew of the Ixcia?" he asked.

"Actually, we are the entire crew." Dipper said as he sat down.

"Well this should speed things up then." Mr. Harn handed each twin a tablet. "You just need to fill out these forms and answer a few questions". Both twins stared at the lady. "Oh, you must have never seen a Fenari before. It's okay Meliea's people are used in legal matters in the Imperium for their ability to detect lies. Now let's start with your names and how long each of you have served under Captain…Darnak?"

"Oh, we were both registered as members of the crew about three minutes before he was crushed by part of the space station that he bought us at." Mabel said. "I'm Mabel Pines."

"I'm Dipper Pines." Dipper said trying to fill out the form.

Melliea held up her hand. "That is not your name. The ringing in my ears is very light. Dipper is what everyone calls you?"

"Yeah, it's a nickname. When I was born my name was Mason." Dipper said embarrassed.

"No need to feel ashamed. It is was a small untruth. Only blatant lies are what are punished. We only wish for the most accurate information to help you."

Harn looked at his holographic computer. "Yes, Darnak was wanted for several smuggling charges so it is no surprise that he would do something as illegal as purchase slaves. He had no living family so there should be no one to contest the transfer."

"Ixcia didn't you say that it was Imperium cruisers that attacked the station?" Dipper asked.

"Correct." Ixcia said from the scantrix they with them to translate any writing they haven't learned yet.

Mr. Harn seemed uncomfortable. "Well our brave and loyal officers of the Imperium Fleet can be a bit overzealous when pursuing justice and may have forgotten to check for civilians."

"We almost died!" Mabel yelled.

"So what planet are you from and how did you end up in slavery?" Harn asked eager to change the subject.

Dipper gave an exasperated sigh. "We were abducted from our home planet Earth along with two others."

"Earth… I am not familiar with that planet."

"It's in what we call the Milky Way Galaxy. We would like to find our friends who were sold and get us all back there as soon as we can." Dipper said hoping this could lead them home.

"Never heard of it. But the universe is a big place and I'm sure there is a record of your world somewhere."

"Would some pictures help?" Mabel asked. "Is there a drawing app on this thing?" Mabel held up the tablet.

"It does; we can run a search with the Imperium database." Mr. Harn pulled up the program and Dipper helped Mabel draw as accurate pictures of both Earth and the Milky Way as they could. "There, our database is extensive so it could be a few hours before we know where you home world maybe."

Dipper had a hopeful look. "Well if you find it please send us the information. We need to find our lost friends and bring them home. Ixcia only has data on this galaxy. Wherever it is."

"You're in the Isoban galaxy." Melliea said with a smile.

Mr. Harn tried to move things along. "Alright now before we go any further I must ask you since your former captain was a wanted criminal, are either of you aware of any current illegal activity he was doing before he died?"

"Nope." Mabel said while trying to figure out one word on her tablet.

Dipper then said. "He didn't have time to tell us about any schemes he had going."

Harn looked at Melliea who nodded. "Very good then. Now let just finish these forms then we can sync your quan disks to your ships account and then the transfer of ownership of Darnak's Deliveries will be complete."

Mabel had a troubled look on her face. "We don't have quan disks. What are they again?"

Mr. Harn looked at Melliea who was just as confused. "You seriously don't know what a quan disk is?"

Dipper cleared things up. "Like we said we were taken from a planet that not as advanced as this one."

"Well then I just have to get you some then. They are what we use to transfer our digital currency. Quan in all it's denominations is used in almost all of the known universe." A few minutes later the twins were handed pentagonal yellow disks and finished the forms and then left.

"They seem like good kids. I hope they find their friends soon. Although the odds are against them." Melliea said.

Just then Harn's computer flashed. He looked at the screen and got a shocked look on his face. "By the Comos…"

As they stepped outside Dipper and Mabel saw their jet bike fly right to them. Ixcia contacted them. "I engaged the bike's auto pilot; it would have complicated the transfer process if you left with it but now all of Darnak's property is yours. I have already contacted our customer. A one Tutfis Molgar and he has not only paid but after he receives the cargo he is willing to give you both a discount at his store."

Dipper and Mabel smiled. "That's great Ixcia. Give us directions and we'll head right over." Dipper said.

"Yeah as comfy as they are, I'm so ready to wear something other than my pajamas. Mabel added.

As they flew off to another part of the city security from the building came outside. "Do you see them?" one of them asked the other.

"No. Send word to all Centurions. Capturing them is our top priority!"

The Pines twins came into the store that had all kinds of products. They saw a man behind the counter with orange skin and one eye. Mabel walked right up to the counter. "Hello are you Tutfis?"

The man turned around. "Boo!" The twins jumped back; he had two eyes one of them was in the back of his head which was the one they were facing when they came in. "Sorry but that's too funny to pass up. Yeah, I'm Tufis. So, you're the kids that took over Darnak's operation. Well I already picked up the goods and transferred five hundred kiloquan to your account."

"I thought money was called quan." Mabel asked.

Dipper thought for a minute. "Sounds like quan is a kind of metric money system."

"Right." Tutfis said. "And that amount includes Darnak's stuff as a trade in. Your A.I. has already made purchases of food you can eat. She also told me you want to get some clothes so how about I show you what I got."

Mabel followed Tutfis. "I do hope you got some nice sweaters for sale. They're my signature look."

"Never heard of a sweater before but I'm sure I have something you'll like. I stock only the highest quality synthetic fabrics."

"Well, it's as Dipper said, we're going to be in space for a while, so I'll have to make do."

They came up to some white rolls of fabric and a machine next to them Dipper right behind them. "These all look the same." He said.

Tutfis laughed. "This machine will cut, stich, and color these fabrics in whatever you need."

"Can we make patterns on them? I'd like to have pictures on my clothes!" Mabel said excited.

Tutfis laughed again. "Except for uniforms of some kind I never heard of such a thing! Sorry that I can't provide such a thing, but it sounds like a good business idea. I'll look into it. Now how about we get you two measured for your clothes."

After some quick scans and waiting for the machine to do its work the twins came out of a pair of dressing rooms. Dipper was wearing a blue shirt with black pants and boots. "Not bad, just wish there was a hat to go with it."

Mabel was wearing a green blouse and pants with a brown skirt and boots. "I figure I'd wear earthy tones until we get back to Earth."

"Well now you two look good. Now how about we get you young folks some protection? The galaxy is a very dangerous place you know." Tutfis suggested.

"Well as soon as we got to the galaxy, we were attacked by space pirates so yeah we could probably use some weapons." Dipper said.

Mabel agreed. "That and we probably need them if we are going to rescue our friends. Now one thing I'm going to need is a grappling hook since mine got left on earth."

"I have just the thing." Tutfis went to a secure case and pulled out a blaster with a hook and line on a very small winch. "This item is very popular with folks need to move around quietly. Just flip this switch on the side to go from the gun or the hook."

"It's perfect!" Mabel cheered.

"Now what would you like Dipper?" Tutfis asked.

Dipper thought for a moment. "Well I think I'd like something that I can use up close and at a distance."

"I think I know what you're looking for." Tutfis then got a metal glove with green gem on the back of the hand. "This is a Power Gauntlet, it enhances your punching power and this crystal fires bolts of energy. Best of all it is adjustable so you can make it fit as you grow."

Dipper tried the gauntlet on his right hand and finding a control it shrank down to fit his hand. "Fits like glove."

"Literally, should be a big improvement for your noodle arms." laughed Mabel.

"Now your sister has something that increases her mobility which is always handy so how about these boosters for you boots? They'll provide short range flight for about ten minutes." He pulled out two devices with two cylinders that have a cone at one end connected by a rectangular joint

"How do I control where I'm going with them?" Dipper asked.

"I got a testing range out back out back. I'll show you." After trying out their new gear the Pines twins paid by touching one their disk to one Tutfis had and went on their way. "Good luck to you two and remember, this galaxy is a dangerous place. There are a lot of though customers out there and it's easy to get on the Imperium's bad side."

"Thanks, we will remember." Dipper said as they flew off.

As they got back to the Ixcia they found a man that looked like a silver colored insect with long mandibles in a yellow cloak with a hood that covered most of his head except his large green eyes. He seemed to be poking around their ship like he was trying to get in. "Hey what are you doing?" Mabel asked.

The creature spoke. "Sorry, my name is Crix and I was wondering if you would be interested in selling me your fine vessel?" As soon as he finished speaking Crix made a few clicking sounds with mandibles.

"Sorry pal but we just got her." Dipper said as the cargo bay door opened. "We just need to get our bike on board and then we'll be leaving."

Soostron came out and Mabel handed him the bags with the spare clothes. "Soostron take these to our rooms please." Mabel walked the jet bike into the cargo bay.

Crix continued to speak while this happened. "Where will you be going? Perhaps you can take me on as a passenger if we're going the same way?" He made the clicking again.

"We haven't decided yet where we're going. Wouldn't want to take you to the wrong side of the galaxy, right? But if you need cargo hauled somewhere then you can reach us on the cosmo-net under the name Odysseus Enterprises." Dipper was proud of the new name he came up with for their company. He didn't know just how prophetic the name would be.

"But…" Before Crix could finish a siren blared through the air and a large grey stone man with green crystals growing out of his head came out of a small ship while two other officers in helmets and the same sliver uniform followed him. Two other ships shaped like arrowheads with long thin wings had lights fixed on the humans. Crix ran as fast as he could. _"No! Not now! I was so close!"_ Crix thought. He vowed he would get that ship someday.

"Mason and Mabel Pines! I'm Centurion Sargent Buckgis and I'm placing you under arrest!" The stone man said as shield expanded from a device on his left wrist and he pulled out a what looked like an electrically charged nightstick.

Ixcia spoke on her loudspeakers. "They had no idea the parts we sold to Mr. Molgar were stolen. I hid this information from them."

"You lied to us?" Mabel asked.

"To protect you both."

Buckgis interrupted them. "We already arrested Tutfis Molgar. But smuggling and selling stolen goods are nothing compared to their crimes. Emperor Grandus, leader of the Grand Cosmic Imperium who is the manifestation of the will of the universe has declared all of your species as heretics!"

"What?!" the twins shouted.

"Come with me quietly. There is no reason to make this any harder than it has to be."

Ixcia spoke. "Mabel, Dipper in the Imperium the punishment for heresy is death!"

Dipper and Mabel each took a step back. "Listen man, we don't want to die! We just want to find our friends and go home. You don't have to do this!" Dipper said.

Mabel was shaking. "Yeah, just let us go. We'll leave and you'll never have to see us again."

Buckgis growled at the twins. "You do not understand. The will of the emperor is the will of the cosmos! And the cosmos demands that you die!" Buckgis charged at them. Dipper shot at his shield flying back to the ship. Mabel followed suit running and shooting at the other officers. The top of Ixcia opened and two laser guns raised up and shot the two floating ships grounding them. Ixcia began to lift off while closing the door but Buckgis jumped and grabbed the door. "You cannot escape!" he yelled.

"I think we just did." Dipper said punching Buckgis in the face with his gauntlet. Buckgis fell back unto the platform and spat a tooth out.

"All patrols ships capture that vessel!"

On the Ixcia Dipper and Mabel went to the Bridge. The ship was rocked as more patrol ships fired at the shields. "Ixcia cloak the ship! Cloak us now!" Mabel screamed.

On the outside the Ixcia faded from the sight of their pursuers. After that they left the atmosphere. "We have evaded the Imperium patrols for now." Ixcia said.

Dipper was angry. "Ixcia why didn't you tell us that those parts were stolen?"

"It is common for the Imperium to employ Fenari in legal and military installations. The parts we had on board was our only source of income until the legal transfer was complete. I determined that if you had not known of our cargo's true nature you would not be caught in a lie and not liable for any crime. I did this to fulfill my directive to look out for your wellbeing."

"Well it didn't work out that way!" Mabel screamed. "Why did they say we were heretics? That's what you call someone who goes against a religion. What did we do wrong? What's going to happen?"

"I do not know. The only one who can declare heresy in the Imperium is the Emperor. There was nothing on the form or what you said that I can see that would lead him to such a conclusion. However, with these charges made you are now wanted criminals in the Imperium, and they will place a bounty on you."

"Great!" Dipper yelled sarcastically. "Now we have the biggest power in the galaxy after us and even if we go somewhere that's not controlled by them anyone who wants to make some quick quan will be after us too! And it's not just us! That rock cop said our whole species are heretics! That means Pacifica and Gideon are in danger too! If we knew what was exactly in those crates, we could have told you not go through with this sale and we could have gone to a non-Imperium world!"

"Dipper!" Mabel yelled. "She couldn't have known what would happen. And the Imperium is so big then this would have happened sooner or later anyway."

Dipper calmed down a little. "Ixcia I'm sorry I got mad, it just… last summer I was in a situation that made me think I could trust no one and I don't want to go through that again."

The diamond that was Ixcia's eye grew and shrank. "I too must apologize. While my logic was not in error, I was. In trying to look out for your well being I hid information you needed to know as my captains. I promise that I will not do this again."

"Thank you Ixcia." Dipper said. "I'm still worried about our friends though. A price is now on their heads and they don't even know it yet."

"They may not be in as much danger as you think. The Imperium is not yet aware of them as far as we know. Gideon is with the Onyx Brotherhood who is fighting against the Imperium and would not likely be exposed as nothing more than an enemy combatant unless he reaches a high rank which not likely for a slave soldier. As for Pacifica the Azure Crown Star Cluster is a region that the Imperium controls only a small section of and since slavery is banned in the Imperium it highly probable that she was taken to a system outside of their control."

"Still we need to find them as soon as we can. Let's set a course for the nearest system the Onyx Brotherhood is fighting in." Dipper went to Navigation.

"We will need to stop and refuel halfway there. This will cost us a significant portion of our funds."

Mabel sat down in the Engineering station. The screen changed to the Odysseus Enterprises website which had the logo Mabel made of a shooting star with a pine tree inside it. "I'll check the cosmo-net if there are any job postings along the way. Don't worry Bro-Bro, as long as we stay positive, we should find our friends and get back home in no time."

Fifteen years later…

"And that's why we need to all nations, corporations, every human being on the planet must work together to advance our technology, build alliances with other species, expand our territory in space as much as we can. We are heretics in the eyes of the Grand Cosmic Imperium, and they will not negotiate. While it does sound like we don't have a chance they don't know where our galaxy is in this region of space, so we do have centuries until they find us, but we must begin as soon as possible. The four of us will act as consultants to the world's scientists, space organizations, and leaders to try get us out into the galaxy before we lose it. We will operate from right here in Gravity Falls. Today science fiction has become a reality and we must be ready for when the Imperium arrives. Are there any questions?" It was several hours after the crew of the Ixcia was questioned by Agent Trigger and now they were in town hall holding a press conference. Dipper had just finished going over all the relevant details. Several reporters raised their hands. Dipper pointed to the one of them. "Yes, you from WNN?"

"Yes, Mr. Pines you have just asked the whole world to put aside their biases, their race, religion, and political affiliations to undertake the greatest undertaking in human history. Do you really think that it is possible for all us to do this?"

"I know what we've asked will be hard for some of us, but we must do all this of our species is to survive." Dipper answered. "Next question from Wolf News."

A woman reporter answered. "Mr. Pines what you have proposed will have an astronomical cost for not only our country but every other country in the world. In order to pay for this; taxes around the world will have to be raised as well as cutting most government spending for all except space programs. Let's say we do believe you when you say that this plan is something humanity needs but is something humanity can afford?"

Pacifica spoke. "I'd like to answer this one Dipper." Dipper nodded and let his wife answer. "There is no denying that this will be expensive. However, as an initial cost saving measure our ship the Ixcia will be used for the first settlement and resource gathering missions while more ships with its capabilities are built. Also, most importantly the technology we are going to show the world how to build and the resources we can gather from space can provide incredible economic opportunities and whole new markets. The benefits will not be immediate, but we are on the verge of the biggest change in how human beings live since the industrial revolution. Our children and grandchildren are going to live in a world we have dreamed of since the days of Jules Vern. We have to give everything we can so our people, all of our people can have a fighting chance for the coming threat."

Dipper spoke again. "Now one more question from NSMCB."

The last reporter asked his question. "You all have been away from Earth for fifteen years. Forced to grow up on your own with no contact your own people, no awareness of events that have happened here. Now you're all trying to bring about a large change to a whole planet that you've been out of contact with for almost two decades. Where do you get the confidence for the task ahead? And how do you feel about coming home after all this time?"

Gideon answered. "We survived everything space threw at us. You can't go through what we've been through and not have some confidence. Even if that wasn't the case it doesn't change what needs to be done."

Mabel finished the question. "It has been a very long journey and it still hard to believe we're home. Words cannot express the joy the relief we all felt today. Thank you all for sharing our warning and our story with the world."

The group left the auditorium while the reporters tried to get more question a pictures in. In the adjacent hallway Wendy, Robbie, and Agent Trigger were waiting for them. Wendy was on her cell phone. "I'll be home soon, give her a kiss for me. I love you." Wendy hung up her phone. "Well that went well." She said. "But I have to be honest, this whole alien empire coming to kill us all thing has got me very nervous."

Dipper looked at Wendy. "We have time Wendy. We're not going let anything happen. I heard you talking on the phone. You have a daughter?"

"Amelia. She's five years old and right now she's with Grey, my husband."

"We've all missed so much." Mabel said in a hushed tone.

Trigger coughed. "I been asked by the president to act as a liaison between you and the government. I must prepare a briefing for him, Congress, and the Pentagon. This whole thing has really shaken up Washington. You all just had to come back on an election year, didn't you?" Trigger then took a breath. "Remember our deal. The four of you can't stay on your ship alone together until we build a ship of our own. Until then an agent must be aboard with you. Hotel rooms have been provided for you, just ask one of the agents to bring you there." Tigger then stomped off.

Gideon tapped his chin. "This would be the first election any of us would participate in. I don't know who the candidates are or if I side with one party or another."

"I guess I'll vote for who will be most willing to help the four us get humanity out to other planets." Dipper said.

Robbie then tapped his briefcase. "Since you do plan on voting you'll be glad to know that I got the paperwork right here to reverse your declaration of death. All you need to do is to sign them, and you'll be legally back from the dead."

Mabel was glad Trigger wasn't here to hear that given with his run in with zombies. "Thanks Robbie." Mabel carefully reach for a form to and pen to sign it.

"Mabel did I do something?" Robbie asked. "You've been nervous around me. I owe you everything Mabel, you got me together with Tambry, she's my wife now. Robbie Jr.; we call him R.J.; wouldn't even exist if it weren't for you."

Mabel took a deep breath. "It's not you Robbie. I very glad to hear all that about a match I've made. My problem is…I have bad luck with lawyers."

"Bad luck as in every time we needed one you've knocked them out." Dipper said.

"Hey, they deserved it…most of the time."

Pacifica sighed as she handed her form to Robbie. "Well that should make things easier. But we still have a lot of work ahead of us."

Wendy placed her hand on Pacifica's shoulder. "Well, don't just focus on saving all of us. If you all burnt out from work, it won't do any of us any good. You guys need to rebuild your lives here. Robbie and I already got on a big part of that while you were having the press conference."

Robbie gave a smile. "We contacted your families. Now Dipper, Mabel your parents are on their way here, but Stan and Ford are in the building right now, Pacifica, Gideon your families are here too. They're each in separate rooms right now. We can take you to them right now."

"What?" Pacifica looked shocked. "My parents really want to see me? The last time we saw each other I yelled at them. And with everything I did out there…"

Dipper took Pacifica's hand. "It's going to be okay darling. Do you want me to be with you when you talk to them?"

Pacifica looked lovingly into his eyes. "No. Mason you go see your uncles. You're right I've faced space pirates, gangsters, warlords, bounty hunters, and Imperium solders. I can handle a talk with my mom and dad. I think…"

Wendy placed her hands onto Dipper and Mabel's shoulders. "Okay, I'll take the two of you to your uncles and Robbie will show Gideon and Pacifica to their parents."

"Sounds good." Dipper said.

"You guys must have also eaten some weird stuff out in space. So, I would like you all to join me and my family at Greasy's Diner tomorrow for some pancakes."

"Oh, yes!" Mabel cheered. "After so many years… a lot of the time when didn't have a lot of money we had to eat these algae bars. You do get used to eating it but…"

All four of had grimaces on their face at the thought. Gideon finished his wife's thought. "…But you never get used to tasting it! I swear it's the only food in the universe that tastes worse every time you eat it!"

"Well one thing's for certain is that I don't have a job there anymore." Pacifica said. She then had a flash of realization. "Dipper, Mabel one of you should tell Ixcia that things are fine. We don't want her flying in to rescue us because we lost track of time."

"Yes Dear." Dipper said bringing his communicator up. "Ixcia, we're checking in. Everything is fine and we'll be back sometime tomorrow afternoon, probably with guests to show them you and our tech. We'll be spending the night at local accommodations."

Ixcia responded. "Understood, all of you have a pleasant evening."

Wendy was glad she wouldn't have to worry about the townspeople panicking at the sight of her friends' ship flying around on its own. "Great you guys are going to really like Grey, he's smart, gentle, and he's not bothered by any of the weirdness of this town. And Amelia, I've been telling her bedtime stories of all our old adventures. She is going to love you guys."

Dipper gave a smile. "Looking forward to it Wendy. Now let's not keep are families waiting. Fifteen years is a long time to wait."


	4. Family Reunion: Pines

Family Reunion: Pines

Wendy brought the twins to an office. "I gave the agents around here a picture of your parents so when they arrive, they'll be brought right to you."

"You've met our parents?" Mabel asked.

"They come to visit your uncles at least once a year for Thanksgiving." Wendy turned the doorknob. "I have to go home but I'll see you guys tomorrow at breakfast."

"Thanks Wendy." Dipper said as they entered the room. Everyone froze for a moment. Stan now used a walker and his hair was much thinner. Ford's hair was also thinner, and his glasses were much thicker. "Hey Grunkle Stan, Grunkle Ford. We're back." Dipper said awkwardly.

Mabel broke into a big smile. "Come on guys group hug!" As the four members of the Pines family hugged Wendy quietly left.

"Just look at you two. When did you get as tall as us?" Stan asked.

Dipper laughed. "I'm not sure, about twelve years ago, I think. Although I am taller than Mabel by one millimeter."

"Yeah, yeah. You're the Alpha Twin." Mabel said giving Dipper a light punch in the shoulder.

Ford had a sad look on his face. "I'm sorry, you two never should have gone through anything like I did. I knew an abduction was a probable explanation but with the saucer beyond repair and no other working spacecraft we could find there was nothing we could do."

"It's alright Grunkle Ford." Mabel said. "Even if you had a ship how would you know where to look? If you did leave the planet you could have been at the opposite side of the universe right now, not knowing we made it home."

Stan nodded in agreement. "She's right Sixer. But look at what these kids…these two strong and smart adults and their friends did. It took me thirty years to bring you back home. They did it on their own it in half that time."

Ford cheered up. He and Stan could not have been prouder if Dipper and Mabel were their own children. "That is true Stanly. I was worried when we had to retire from mystery hunting nine years ago when our health began to decline."

"We moved to Shady Meadows retirement village here in town. Nice place; our friends come visit often and we take fishing trips to the lake." Stan told his niece and nephew.

Ford continued. "But we don't have to worry. The two of you can handle this coming invasion and any other anomalies that may appear. Fifteen years ago, you two went on a mission to prove that you could look after yourselves and you've done that beyond a shadow of a doubt."

It was then that the door opened and in came a man and a woman, both with brown greying hair. It was Andrew and Sarah Pines. Mabel and Dipper almost thought that they were dreaming. There were some changes, the grey in their hair, a few wrinkles here and there, their mother wore glasses now, and their father gained some weight. But it was indeed their parents. "My babies! Oh, thank you God!" Sarah ran toward her children and embraced them with tears of joy in her eyes.

Andrew walked up to his family and placed his hands on his son's and daughter's shoulders. "Lord, we thank you for bringing our children back to us. For they were lost, but now our found. Were dead, but now live again."

This caught Dipper and Mabel off guard. On a closer look Mabel noticed her mother was wearing a small gold cross. "Mom, Dad you were never religious before."

Andrew took a breath. "After you both disappeared it was hard on the both of us, we were drowning in our grief. Our marriage was falling apart."

Sarah continued. "A year after you both vanished, we filed for divorce."

"What?!" Both younger Pines twins were shocked.

Andrew finished the story. "Before we signed the papers a local preacher, father Williams heard about what we were going through from one of our neighbors. He talked to us about God's love and how he watches over us all. That if you were still out there, he would be watching over you. What he said to us over two weeks gave us hope. We stepped back from the brink and our love was stronger than ever."

Sarah looked right into her children eyes. "And God was watching over you. He sent his angels to protect you on this long journey."

"Well maybe." Mabel said. "We've had more than our fair share of close calls over the years. A lot of the time it seemed like we got by on pure luck."

Dipper went deep into thought. "I will admit I've seen some amazing things in my life, and while I've never seen anything that proves God exists, I also never seen any that proves he doesn't either."

Ford then said. "I know what you mean Dipper. In all my travels in the multiverse I also never found anything that proves one way or the other if there is a single creator of all existence. But I do want to believe in a force of absolute good with all the bad I've seen."

"That's what faith is for, to let you believe in something whether there's proof or not." Stan said.

"Grunkle Stan do you believe in this too?" Dipper asked.

"When your parents first found out you were missing, they blamed us, and I couldn't fault them for it."

"We later realized that you two wouldn't want our family torn apart over you." Sarah said.

Mabel tried to hold back tears. "No, we never would."

Stan kept going talking about the matter like it was a practical decision. "About twelve years ago I had my first real heart attack. Coming so close to dying I realized that as an old man that did a lot of the things the man in charge frowns on, it would be best to make things right by him. You know invest it that prime real estate he's got up there."

"Things you're not proud of huh?" Dipper said with a sullen look on his face. Mabel looked away from her family knowing what Dipper was about to tell them. "We've done things we're not proud of too. To find the others after they were taken, to help anyone fighting the Imperium, or to stay at least one step ahead of everyone who was trying to kill us."

Andrew looked his son in the eye. "Mason, you were children thrown into an impossible situation. Whatever it is you've done I'm sure that…"

"What? That God would forgive us?" Mabel cried. "We've smuggled stolen property multiple times to make ends meet! I cheated a rich collector by making a forgery of a lost family heirloom just because we were desperate for fuel! I made and sold knock off ship parts so I could bribe the official at this one port we were docked at to change her records to say we were someone else so the Imperium couldn't find us!"

Dipper was also crying. "We ran weapons to some of the most brutal soldiers in that galaxy to find out if Gideon was with their unit. Men know for targeting civilians! I nearly beat a man to death because I was so convinced that he had seen Pacifica working at a brothel he frequented, and I was completely wrong! She was never there! We stole a part our ship needed so we could finally after all those long years go home! We left innocent people behind to die because we…we didn't believe that they could win against them anymore!"

They both fell to their knees. Sarah held Dipper while Andrew held Mabel. For Mr. and Mrs. Pines it almost felt like their children were little again "Shhhh. It's okay Mason."

"Daddy's here, Mabel. You can cry all you need to."

"It is going to take a lot of soul searching for you both to come to terms with what you had to do to bring the four of you home." Sarah said. She noticed the burn mark on Dippers hand but said nothing. But she knew her little boy had been through even more dark times.

"None of us will force anything on you. You need to feel God's call on your heart for yourselves. We will always love you and will always keep you in our prayers." Andrew rubbed Mabel's back like he used to do when she upset when she was little but her back felt different. He could tell her clothes were hiding a large scar on her back. This whole ordeal left marks both physical and emotional on his children.

"Thank you." Mabel said as she began to dry her tears.

"Look at me…" Dipper said to himself, but everyone could hear. "…I offered Pacifica support in facing her parents again when it seems like I'm the one who really needed it." Dipper got up and looked at his family. "All four of us were trying so hard to get by the day by day of this whole mess that as we all grew older, we talked about our troubles less and less. We just kept trying to find the good in our daily lives as we pushed on with our goal of getting home. And when we finally made it, we hid all the vile things we had to do to make sure people would listen to our warning."

Mabel picked herself off the floor. "You know, it's funny. For all the crimes we committed out there we only got arrested when we were either tricked or broke a law for something that I still can't believe those people banned."

"So, you two are now fellow members of the ex-con club?" Stan asked.

Dipper sat down in a chair. "Yeah, Grunkle Stan remember when you told us you've been in prison in three different countries? Well we've been in prison in three different solar systems. I remember the first time very well."

Fourteen years ago,

Wall panels blew off in the bridge as Ixcia was attacked. Soostron went to fixing it right away. Mabel had painted his body to look like he was wearing a Mystery Shack employee shirt. Both her and Dipper had grown much as they have been traveling through space for over a year. They were now fifteen years old and as tall as Wendy and her friends were when they first met them. Dipper was at the Helm trying to dodge the fire from the other ship that was shaped like a single large wing. "Who's shooting at us this time?" he asked. Dipper had recently started to wear a long black coat.

Ixcia's avatar expanded into a large green holographic screen. On it appeared a large brown furred man that look like he would normally have four eyes, but his left eyes were replaced with cybernetic implants. His right arm was also completely replaced with a mechanical one with blades sticking out of it. The man spoke. "You have the honor of being brought in by me, Vax. The greatest bounty hunter in the Isoban galaxy."

"Great another bounty hunter." Mabel said sarcastically as she sat down at Tactical and manned the weapons. "There is no way we're are going to let you take us to the Imps!" The twins had come to call Imperium forces Imps for short.

"I doubt that. I have never lost a bounty." Vax said closing communication. They took a few more hits and Mabel returned fire.

Dipper kept up the evasive maneuvers. "Ixcia how long until we can hyper jump?

"Jump engines are offline as well as the cloak." She said.

"Are there any weaknesses in his ship we can exploit?"

"Scanning…the other ship's sub light engines are located on the ventral section. Without them Vax would only have thrusters and jump engines."

Dipper thought for a moment. "Mabel I'm going to lead him to the planet we just left. When he enters its gravitational field hit his ventral section with everything you got."

"You got it Dipping Sauce." Mabel aimed at the underbelly of the enemy ship.

"Shields at 57%." Ixcia said.

Dipper kept his eye on the monitor showing the gravitational field. "Almost there…now!" Mabel fired. They saw they ship fall toward the planet trying to correct its flight path.

Vax opened a channel with his targets. "You are going to pay for this! Nobody escapes from me! Nobody!" His ship rocked and the twins saw his left leg was also mechanical just before the signal cut out.

"He is attempting an emergency landing. He will likely land in the swamp lands." Ixcia said.

Dipper breathed a sigh of relief. "Right, Soostron get to repairing the jump drive. We need to finish our repairs before Vax finishes his." Soostron made a few beeps and went to the engine room.

Ixcia then said. "One of my external drivers was also damaged. I cannot jump until it is repaired."

"Yes! Looks like we get to go on a spacewalk!" Mabel said.

Dipper got up from the helm. "Right I'll get a tool kit. Mabel I'll meet you at the port airlock."

Mabel was already at the door. "I'll get the life patches ready. Ixcia go sub-light and find someplace we can hide if Vax gets his ship working."

A few minutes later they were at the common area. Over the past year Mabel painted pictures of things that she liked, or thought would keep her and her brother happy like the faces of friends and family in the common area, the cargo bay, the galley, and her room. "Oh no! That battle ruined both my blue sky and Grenda! Now I have to make them all over again!" The drawings in question were scorched black.

Dipper walked up with the kit in hand. "Let's get out of this system first. Did you get the life patches?"

"Here you are." Mabel gave Dipper a square device that he put on his left arm and a green energy field surrounded him. Mabel did the same with the same results as the airlock opened. Inside a small compartment opened and each twin took out a pair of anklets and put them on and a small yellow light turned on.

"Check on gravity braces." As Dipper said this the outer airlock door opened. Dipper came outside the field from the life patch provided air and protected him the vacuum of space and from stellar radiation. Dipper slowly placed his foot from the platform that slid out from the airlock and onto the haul of the ship. He then began to walk toward the rear of the ship Mabel quickly catching up.

"Do you have to take it so slow? I thought we were in a hurry." Mabel annoyed.

"I'm just trying not to fly off into space." They walked to the upper right prong at the rear of the ship. When they got there, Dipper placed the magnetized toolbox down and got to work. "All this for another dead end." Dipper sighed.

"So, Gideon isn't in this system either. It's nothing new we just have to get lucky once to find him." Mabel said as she swapped a damaged part for a new one.

"Mabel, I know you're doing your best to keep the both of us positive, but I'm worried about the toll this all taking on you." Dipper connected a few cables to some other components.

"I'm going to be fine Dipper. I'm glad you worry about me but if we're going to get through all this, we need find all the moments of joy we can between crises." Mabel and Dipper secured new hull panels over the driver. "Moments like this one." Mabel grabbed the toolkit and jumped into space.

"Mabel!" Dipper activated his boosters and flew to Mabel and caught her. "Mabel you know these braces don't work unless you have at least one foot on the hull!"

"Of course, I know that Dipper. That's not the point. I know you will always catch me. Look at where we are! We are floating in space without bulky suits! Look how silly my hair is!" Her hair was spread out in all directions. "We can't lose the wonder of us being out here. We are living a life that other people back home only dream of!"

Dipper laughed. "Your right. It's just been so frustrating lately. Until this the only good thing that happened this week was that I finally got a replacement for my acne medication. My face looked like asteroid. But we better get back before Vax finishes his repairs. Wouldn't want him to ruin anymore of our fun right?"

Dipper flew them to the Starboard airlock, and they went inside. "Ixcia can we hyper jump now?" Mabel asked.

Ixcia appeared from a projector orb. "Yes. Also, if you remember before we were attacked, we were in the middle of a surprise educational evaluation."

Dipper sighed. "Set a course for Kodex station. We're running late for our next cargo pick up. We'll go back to our rooms and get back to that pop quiz."

Twenty minutes later Dipper finished his school assignment. "Well done Dipper. You scored a 100% on the evaluation." Ixcia said.

"Thanks, Ixcia. Bring up my personal star chart." Dipper said. His room had various artifacts as he called them. Items from different planets that visited over the past year. The star chart appeared, and Dipper touched the star system they just left, and it turned red. It was just one of about two dozen. Two dozen out of hundreds of star systems Gideon could be in. And thousands more that Pacifica could be kept at. If either of them was still alive. _"No! I can't think like that!"_ he thought. He had to hold on to hope no matter what. "Ixcia how much longer until we reach Kodex station?"

The chart closed and changed to Ixcia's avatar. "Four standard hours."

"Okay." Dipper got up from his desk and went out to the hall. Mabel had painted their names on the doors of each of their rooms his in blue hers in rainbow. He touched a panel on the side of Mabel's door and a small chime sounded inside Mabel's room.

"Come in." Mabel's voice said over the intercom. Dipper entered his sister's room. Along with the drawings she did on the walls Mable made a stuffed animal version of Waddles. Because of the materials available the plush version looked scalier than the real thing, but a barefoot Mabel was still cuddling with it on her bed. "Hey Dipper, thank you for helping me study. I got a 98% on that quiz."

"I told you, you could do it. We'll be at the station in four hours. After we pick up the cargo how about we celebrate with some Drindar sandwiches for dinner?" Dipper asked.

Mabel giggled at a thought. "Who would have thought the best tasting thing we've had so far in space would pretty much be iguana burgers."

"Well that could change if we find someone who knows how to make ice cream."

The hours passed and flown into a large cylindrical space station that was rotating. The inside was like a city. There was even a park with orange grass and purple trees. Ixcia flew over to an area with many ships landing and taking off. As they landed a woman named Udona with white skin and a large frill walked up to the ship. A truck like vehicle was right behind her with several crates. The cargo bay door opened, and Dipper came out in the power loader with Mabel right behind him. Udona looked at Dipper and smiled. "So, you are Dipper Pines and you're going to haul my Botran wheat." The woman said obviously flirting.

"Hang on a minute." Mabel said. She opened one of the crates to see red wheat bundled inside. "Yep that's Botran wheat. This is going to feed a lot of people. Load it up Bro!"

"Got it Mabel." Dipper picked up a crate with the loader.

Udona got a serious look on her face. "You'll get half now and half when you deliver it to Strobus 9. One hundred kiloquan in total."

"No problem." Mabel said as they touched disks.

"Your brother is quite the handsome man. I bet he wouldn't mind staying here for a few days while you make the delivery."

Dipper was coming back for another crate. "We not separating. Beside you are a Yul, right Udona? You look like you're around one hundred, one fifty years old. Compared to you I'd be barely be out diapers. I don't think it would be a good fit. I already had a hard time going after an older woman."

"It's your loss." Udona said as she left.

They finished loading the crates and refueled. The twins got back to the bridge Mabel to the helm while Dipper went to navigation. "So, we'll be on Strobus 9 in two days." Dipper said. "That should give us time to figure out where to look for Gideon next."

Mabel talked while she flew the ship. "Good, maybe we can also figure out a faster way to look too. I had this idea, what if we offer to be a go between for the Brotherhood and their suppliers for things like medicine or replacement parts for their ships?"

"That may sound like good idea but I'm a little worried. That General Neryo seemed like a tough customer." Dipper said as they cleared the station.

"I must also make an observation." Ixcia said. "While General Neryo is the leader of the Brotherhood she separated her army into several units, each operating in only a single star system at any given time and they do not communicate with no more than one or two other units."

"So even if we they are willing to talk to us, they may not know." Mable said sounding depressed.

Dipper quickly thought of something to cheer her up. "It's still a good idea Mabel. Hey, how about we play a game? Imperium News truth or lie?"

Mabel lifted he head and smiled. "Yeah. That sounds fun."

Ixcia shifted into screen mode and the image of a pink polygonal woman with what looked like a halo above her head. "All across the twenty galaxy's it's Eyes on the Imperium! I am you host, Soothsayer version 506.14. First, we begin with the financial news, Imperium Exports stock has risen due to the promising negotiations with the Doxon Corporation of the Trans-Galactic Confederacy." She had a very perky voice.

"Since anyone can check stocks, I say truth." Mable said.

The Soothsayer continued her broadcast. "In the Isoban Galaxy crime continues to drop as more of the galaxy fall under the protection of our noble centurions."

Dipper answered as it was his turn. "Lie! We've been attacked by space pirates twice this this month!"

"In other news in Isoban the Imperium Fleet successfully secured the Dicabo system defeating the Onyx Brotherhood terrorists in that system."

Mable groaned. "Truth. They're not going to pass up a chance to gloat. At least we already looked there six months ago."

"In entertainment news Garix Rowdoe star of the Lobani soap opera All My Eggs was seen with noted Imperium Symphony Orchestra gondle horn player Miva Gof talking together in a charity event. Is love in the air?"

Dipper placed his hand on his forehead. "Oh man, celebrity gossip? Umm, I don't see how lying about it helps them so…truth?"

"Breaking news, despite a public scare yesterday Emperor Grandus seems to be on the road to recovery. Our one hundred and thirty-year-old emperor had this to say."

The feed switched to a video of an old man that was the same species as Mr. Harn. Since they met him the twins found he was a Celestanite the founding race of the Imperium. The bearded old man was sitting on a throne that while cushioned was made of pure diamond. "Yesterday I fainted due to exhaustion brought about by my endless service to all citizens of the Imperium. I assure this momentary sign of weakness has not deterred my life's mission to bring order and justice to all the universe."

"This is the guy who declared us heretics." Dipper said.

Mable was not impressed. "He looks like an evil alien Santa Claus."

The recording continued. "No doubt this episode has made many concerned about my age but worry not. The royal line is secure in my only child Stellara." A little girl about three years old with a blonde braid walked up next to the emperor.

Dipper rubbed his chin. "I never thought a guy that old could have a kid that young."

"She is very young, but she like I is an incarnation of the will of the universe. She will also have the wisdom of my most trusted adviser Duradis." Grandus pointed to another celestanite who was bald. "Worry not my subjects I am still well and will still be your emperor, sitting on the diamond throne for several more years."

"Liar…" Mabel said. "He's not doing well and he's trying to hide it. I know he made us criminals without even knowing us but…"

Dipper finished his sisters thought. "It's hard not to feel for his little girl. She's probably going to lose him soon."

"Running an empire that spans galaxies? I was twelve when I ran the Mystery Shack for three days and almost lost it! She should be in preschool not sitting on some stupid chair that doesn't even look all that comfy."

"Estimated value of the Diamond Throne, one hundred megaquan." Ixcia said.

Dipper took a breath. "Even if we want to help her, I highly doubt they'll let heretics close to her." Dipper input a course and got up. "Come on, I'll make those Drindar sandwiches."

Two days later they were in orbit of Strobus 9. It was a cold icy world with green glaciers. The Pines were sitting in the common area looking out the window. "Why do you think they're green Dipper?" Mable asked.

"It's most likely that the ice is made of something other than water or there is some kinds of algae or fungus growing in it." Dipper got up. "Ixcia, open a channel to the space port where we are to make the delivery."

"Open." Ixcia became the screen and a wolf like man with four ears appear on it.

The man spoke. "I am Worvis the dock master for Fruga city. State your business here."

Mabel stood up. "Hi, I'm Mabel of Odysseus Enterprises and we're here to deliver a shipment of botran wheat. May we have clearance to land please?"

Worvis had a look of suspicion on his face. "Most folks are trying to get off this planet. The Imperium's Fleet have almost defeated our defense forces. They say we may have to surrender to them in little over a week."

"We don't plan on staying long and anyone who can't get off may need this and we can offer passage off planet."

"Fine, you are cleared to land."

Ixcia returned to normal and began to make her descent. Dipper got up. "Well that guy was sure grumpy. You usually make everyone smile. That's why I let you do a lot of the talking with the customers."

Mabel gave a sad sigh. "With the Imps coming I'm not surprised he's grumpy."

Then they heard a thud and felt slight shake as they landed. "Well let's get to work." Dipper said. They both went into the cargo bay and opened the door.

Worvis was waiting outside along two others of his kind with uniforms with painted claw marks. "Right let's inspect the cargo." He said.

"Inspect it?" Dipper asked.

Worvis ignored him and opened a crate and pulled out a scanning device. It beeped and flashed red. "Just as I suspected. Arrest them!"

"What?!" The twins said as the others cuffed them.

"This grain was genetically modified. If ignited the smoke becomes a powerful narcotic! You're drug traffickers!"

Mabel was in stunned silence. "We were only hired to make a delivery! We had no idea that it was changed!" Dipper said.

"It is true. The fault is mine. I didn't consider that they were being deceived." Ixcia said.

"Tell it to the magistrate." Worvis growled. "Now take us to your bridge. We're taking you to stand trial."

"Let's just do as he says." Mabel said shaking herself out of her shock. "We can explain ourselves and show that this is just a big misunderstanding." They did as they were told and Worvis took the helm flying them off the planet.

"Wait shouldn't we be going to a courthouse or something?" Dipper asked.

"We find things go much faster by holding trials in the prison." Hearing this the Pines gulped. They traveled to a nearby asteroid that had a large dome and several buildings on its surface. They landed in a cavern with several other ships. "Listen to me ship. If they are found guilty you will be considered an accomplice and will be impounded until they complete their sentences."

"Understood." Ixcia replied.

"Don't worry Ixcia that won't happen." Mabel said trying to stay positive.

Ten minutes later they found themselves being led through the prison with a lot of tough looking aliens. Dipper was trying to reassure Mabel and keep himself calm. "Okay Mabel we just need to explain what happened. As long as we don't panic, we should get through this."

As soon as he finished saying this a shark like man walked up to them and roared into their faces. Mabel screamed and punched him in the jaw knocking him out.

"What are you doing?" Worvis said shocked. "That was your defender!"

"It looked like he was trying to eat us!" Mabel yelled.

"Roaring is how his people say hello!" Worvis shook his head. "We don't have time for this! You're just going to have to defend yourselves."

They were taken into the courtroom and were brought before a walrus looking man who had to be the magistrate. "What are the charges?" He asked.

"I caught these two trying to smuggle narcotics." Worvis said.

"Where is their defender?" the magistrate asked.

"Uh, there was an accident outside." Mabel said nervously. "Your honor this is just a big mistake! We didn't know someone could change that wheat into drugs! Udona lied to us!"

"Please your honor we can't go to prison! We need to find our friends who were sold into slavery!" Dipper pleaded.

"Well that sounds like a guilty plea. You even named an accomplice. You should have been more vigilant in inspecting your cargo. However, I am willing to show some compassion for your predicament. I hereby find you both guilty of narcotics smuggling and shall give the reduced sentence of five standard years imprisonment." The magistrate banged a wooden cube on his bench. "Next case."

"What that's it?" Dipper yelled. "That trial couldn't have been more than three minutes!"

"We believe in swift justice in this system."

"Don't we get an appeal or something?" Mabel asked.

"Never heard of it." The magistrate waved them off.

After being processed the twins found themselves in the prison yard. A man like Buckgis but with no crystals walked up to them. "Well look at what we have here. We don't get many women in this place."

He tried to grab Mabel, but Dipper got in between them. "Leave my sister alone!"

The next thing Dipper knew he was punched in the stomach. "You're new here so let's get some things straight. My name's Boulder and I'm the toughest guy here so I take whatever I want."

"Not everything Boulder." It was a guard the same species as Worvis.

"Stay out of this Snarl!"

"You know the rules! You can't have your way with female prisoners!"

"For now, … I'll see you later, little lady." Boulder walked off.

"Thank you." Mabel said as she attended to her brother.

"You're just lucky I was here. With the Imperium stepping up their attacks we've had to transfer more and more guards to the frontline. Not that it helps. They say that we're going to have to surrender in a week."

"We've heard." Dipper said, the wind coming back into him. "This is a nightmare. Sure, we've spent a night in a county jail once, but we've never been sent to prison before. Especially an alien prison."

"Dipper you should lay down." Mabel said worried.

"I'll take you to your cell. No one will bother you there." Snarl said. When they got to the cell Mabel heard the other prisoners cat calling her while Snarl opened a solid metal door. "In you both go."

Mabel couldn't believe her ears. "What? Don't male and female prisoners have separate cells?"

"We're too overcrowded as it is. We can't tailor to each species preferences. No one outside the cell can see below the neckline. The two of you are siblings, right? I sure you have the restraint to not peek at each other." Snarl closed the cell door as Mabel placed Dipper on the bottom bunk.

"This really stinks!" Mabel said. "We can't stay here! The longer we're here the more likely something awful could happen to our friends!"

"Don't worry Mabel we are not going to spend the next five years rotting away. We are going to bust out of here."

"Dipper, Mabel. I hope that you can hear me." It was Ixcia speaking to them through their implants. "I know you can not respond. Listen carefully, I am still where I was landed but I can not come to rescue you. If I try to move the automated defenses will open fire on me and my shields have been disabled. I must remain intact if you are going to have any chance of leaving this place before the Imperium arrives. I am sorry but you must escape on your own. However as soon as I detect your approach, I will ready the engines.

They were left alone until the next day. "Mealtime." A guard said opening the door. The twins followed the crowd into the cafeteria that had a large screen that was showing several news feeds including Eyes on the Imperium. When the got to where they were being served the food was worse than they imagined. "Algae Bars!" They both said.

"Of course, they'd go for this cheap junk." Mabel said as they both tried to finish as fast as possible.

"So, we meet again." It was Boulder.

"Listen to me you rocky creep, I'm not interested." Mabel said.

"You wouldn't say that if you knew me better." Boulder took hold of Mabel's wrist.

"I'm done eating and my brother and I need to find a way out here." Mabel tried to pull out of his grip.

"Escape? Don't even think about. My plan is the only way out but with the Imperium coming that was shot to shale! Six more days and all I would have needed to do was steal a ship! Now when they come every prisoner here is who is wanted by the Imperium is going to get more time added to their sentence. But me? I'm wanted for treason! That is a death sentence in the Imperium! So, I may as well do what I can to enjoy what little life I have left."

"Just because you gave up doesn't mean we have!" Dipper pulled open Boulder's hand freeing his sister.

Boulder noticed three guards coming toward them. "We'll settle this later." He then pushed them down unto the hard floor.

As Dipper got up, he said. "We have to find our own way out of here, fast. If the Imps finds us, we're just as dead as Boulder.

Mabel dusted herself off. "We only have six days to figure it out, so we better get started." For four more days they tried to find anything that could help them escape, learning the guards schedule, memorizing the layout of the prison, looking for tools they could use to break the locks of their cell. They did it all while keeping Boulder away from Mabel, but time was running out and nothing they found could help them form a plan in time. "This is looking hopeless." Mabel said in her bunk.

"Maybe we could have found something by now if Boulder left you alone." Dipper said from his bunk.

"Dipper maybe you should stop trying to protect me from him and focus on finding a way out. I can handle myself."

"Mabel that guy is too strong for you to fight alone! Besides, I can't stand the thought of him having his way with you. I know that you can stand up for yourself but like you said, 'I'll always be there to catch you'."

Mabel then realized something. "Boulder said he had an escape plan, right? Maybe if I give him what he wants…"

They heard a knock on their door and Snarl was there. "Don't even think about! He is in here for murder!"

"How much of that did you overhear?" Dipper asked worried.

"I have no plans on reporting you for planning to escape. I read your files. The Magistrate just found you guilty to look good for the Imperium when they come with a pile of convictions. You two shouldn't be in here."

"Can you get us out?" Mabel asked.

"I'm sorry but no. If I tried the other guards would stop all of us. As in shoot to kill." Snarl hung his head. "I just came to say goodbye. I am being transferred to the final defense line."

Dipper jumped out of his bunk. "But that means you could die!"

"Every man fighting them means more people can escape the Strobus system before the Imperium take over, like my wife and three pups. As long as they are okay then that is all that matters. I'm just sorry I couldn't help the two of you more. Do you have any family?"

"Yes." Mabel said sadly. "We haven't seen them in over a year."

"I hope you do find a way out of here and see them again." With that Snarl walked away, the twins never saw him again.

The next day as they came into the cafeteria, they saw everyone was staring at the screen that was only showing Eyes on the Imperium. The Soothsayer spoke with a much more solemn voice than last time. "This just in. Our beloved Emperor Grandus passed away in his sleep at 0024 hours last night Celestio standard time. While we mourn our leader, the Imperium is still secure. Princess Stellara will ascend to the throne once she completes the coronation trials when she turns seventeen. Until then we be guided by the Emperor's advisor Duradis who has been named regent until Stellara comes of age. For now, as is custom all Imperium offices will be closed and all military operations will postponed until the conclusion of the Emperor's funeral tomorrow."

"This could be just what we need." Dipper said. He took Mabel by the hand and began looking for someone in the cafeteria while all the other prisoners were talking about what they heard.

"Dipper where are we going?" Mabel asked.

"To the one person who has an escape plan. Just wish he wasn't the only one who did." Dipper found who he was looking for. "Boulder I have an offer to make for you. We need to know your escape plan."

Boulder got up from his table. "Why should I tell you? Are you offering a night with your sister in return?"

"No!" Mabel said wondering if Dipper lost his mind.

"We got something better." Dipper said. "The Emperor kicking the bucket makes your plan workable doesn't? You said the Imps coming tomorrow ruined it, but that funeral puts everything on hold for one day! Your plan can work! We have a ship in impound, let us in on the plan and we can get you out of here. You're wanted for treason; we are wanted for heresy. Both are death sentences! This is the only chance the three of us can get out alive!"

Boulder thought for a moment. "Meet me in the exercise yard in one hour. We can go over the plan then. To many eyes here watching."

An hour later the twins were walking in the exercise yard. "I don't like this Dipper. This is what Snarl warned us not to do!" Mabel said.

Dipper sighed. "I don't trust him either Mabel, but we are out of time."

They found Boulder by some benches. "Right, here is the plan. Tomorrow the computer system goes through a yearly scheduled diagnostic. It always takes place during mealtime during which the defense systems will be down for forty-five minutes. They usually have the guards take over manually for this but with so many being sent off to defend the planet they are shorthanded." He began to draw a floor plan in the dirt. "So, during mealtime we'll cause a distraction so large that the guards that would be at the guns covering the impound will have to come help. That's when we make a break for it." He drew an arrow out of the cafeteria.

"What about the security doors?" Dipper asked.

"I cobbled together a device that should open them. I'll have it on me tomorrow, the only problem is getting the ship ready in time before the guards know what were up to."

"No problem there." Mabel said as she pulled back her hair pointed behind her left ear. "Our ship Ixcia has been tracking us since we got here through our translator implants. She won't open up if Dipper and I aren't there."

"Smart ship." Boulder said. "We only got one shot at this and the fewer people who know about this the better so tell no one and we don't let anyone get in the way." He wiped away the plan. "We'll meet in the cafeteria tomorrow. Don't screw this up for me." The twins nodded in agreement.

Later that night Mabel couldn't sleep. "Dipper I don't think we can trust Boulder. I know this is our one chance but what if he tries something and double crosses us? He's a killer."

Dipper thought for a moment. "Then we'll be in a real pickle, won't we? You know we do when we're in pickles."

"Yeah, I hear what you are saying." Mabel said and closed her eyes.

The next day in the cafeteria the screen had live coverage of the emperor's funeral. "There is one thing about the plan you never told us Boulder how do we distract the guards?" Mabel asked.

Boulder gave a smug smile. "That's the easy part." He stood up on his table. "Hey everyone! Riot!"

The whole room broke out into fighting. The guards there got on their communicators. "All units we need back up! Riot in progress!" One of them was punched in the head by an inmate.

"Now! Let's go!" Boulder yelled. He and the twins ran out of the room and down the hall to a security door. Boulder pulled out a machine made of slapped together parts.

"That thing better work!" Dipper said.

"It will! Your ship better be not be sitting on its processor." Boulder said.

"She'll be ready!" Dipper replied. The door opened and after running down the next hall they ran into a guard.

"Halt!" he yelled.

"Out of my way!" Boulder punched the guard in the face.

"This is the last door!" Mabel said. As Boulder opened the door, they ran out into the impound seeing the magistrate get into his ship and fly off. "You better run you coward!"

"Ixcia are you ready for takeoff?" Dipper shouted as he ran toward his ship.

"Affirmative." Ixcia said opening her cargo bay door.

"That's all I need to hear!" Boulder slammed his device into the back of Dipper's head breaking it to pieces and knocking him out.

"Dipper!" Mabel yelled.

"We don't need him anymore sweet thing. Now you're coming with me!" Boulder grabbed Mabel.

"No means no!" Mabel kicked Boulder in the crotch. It was softer that the rest of his stony body, but she still felt like she kicked a rock. Boulder keeled over in pain. "Soostron! Code Pickle Jump Rope Penguin!" Soostron came to the door as the ship lifted off with Mabel's gun in its hand. He fired the grappling hook and it wrapped around Mabel. Then she took Dipper in her arms as the line reeled them both in. "Deal's off Rock Head!" Mabel shouted as Ixcia began to fly off.

"No! Nooooo!" Boulder screamed as guards came in and dog piled him.

Dipper woke up on the cargo bay floor find his head resting against his sister's breast. He jumped up. "I'm so sorry Mabel!"

"No Dipper it's okay. You shouldn't be moving around a lot, Boulder hit you hard. I'm just glad you came up with the idea of making up code phrases for Ixcia and Soostron made up of earth words. This is the first time they came in handy." Mabel took Dipper's hand. "We should get you to sickbay to see if he gave you a concussion."

"What happened to Boulder?" Dipper asked.

"He should still be there when the Imps come tomorrow. I don't feel sorry for him."

"Did he hurt you?"

"Not directly. I kicked him in the pebbles, and I think I broke my toe."

"I recommend an overnight stay in sickbay for both of you then." Ixcia said.

"Ixcia set a course for the closest system the Imps aren't going after. We'll get back to looking for Gideon tomorrow." Dipper said.

"Just hope Snarl and his family will be okay." said Mabel.

"Hyper Jump in 5…4…3…2…1.

Fourteen years later,

"That sounded awful." Sarah said.

"We've been through worse since then. But we learned to check our cargo every time after that." Dipper said.

"I believe you." Andrew said looking at Dipper's burn and remembering Mabel's scar. "I just hope that Boulder was the last person who tried take my daughters innocence."

Mabel got a grumpy look on her face. "Well sadly Dad the universe has no shortage of perverts." She then perked right up. "But you'll be glad to know Dipper and I remained virgins until our wedding day."

"Wedding day singular?" Sarah said worriedly.

Dipper panicked. "Mom! No! It's not like that! Gross! We had joint ceremonies. I married Pacifica and Mabel married Gideon."

"You really married Gideon sweetie?" Stan asked.

"He got a lot better over the years. You should see what he looks like now. I feel just so safe in his big strong arms." Mabel almost purred that last part.

"Well I for one am looking forward to meeting this ship of yours. She's sounds like a scientific marvel." Ford said excitedly.

Dipper placed his hand on Ford's shoulder. "She is so much more than that Grunkle Ford. She has become a member of the family. And speaking of family Mom, Dad you really should meet Pacifica and Gideon. You'll love them. Even before he married Mabel I come to think of Gideon as my brother."

"And I thought Pacifica as a sister for years." Mabel cheered.

"Well what are we waiting for?" Andrew asked. "With both their families here, we have a lot of new in-laws to meet!"

The Pines family all got ready to leave the room. "Just one thing about your story. What is this quan stuff you talked about?" Stan asked.

"It's money Grunkle Stan! Space money on the metric system." Mabel said.

"Metric money? But that's…unamerican!" Stan was dumbfounded.

"Grunkle Stan, it was made by an evil alien empire, hardly what I'd call American." Dipper said trying to keep his great uncle from having another heart attack.


	5. Family Reunion: Gideon

Chapter five

Family Reunion: Gideon

Robbie, Gideon, and Pacifica walked down a hallway. "The documents you just signed are just the beginning. We'll still need to get you guys valid I.D., insurance, we'll need to assess the education you got, and so much more." Robbie said.

"Whatever gets things done faster we're all for it." Gideon slapped Robbie on the back causing him to stubble a bit. "Sorry, I forget how strong I am sometimes."

"How are you not nervous?" Pacifica asked. "This is the first time you'll have seen your parents in fifteen years. What if they changed or don't like what you've become?"

"Paz, I know you didn't leave things on good terms with your parents but remember we're your family too. As for me well knowing Mabel will be there no matter happens keeps me happy."

"I'm just not sure what I am going to find." Pacifica said as they came to an office door.

"Well Gideon your family is waiting for you in here." Robbie opened the door.

Before he went into the office Gideon turned to Pacifica and said. "It's going to be okay."

Gideon's parents looked much the same as the last time he saw them except that his dad was greying. However, what he wasn't expecting was that a teenage girl with short black hair would be standing in the corner. She had a white shirt on that had several dirt stains and torn blue jeans. She was looking at him like she was sizing him up. "Gideon look at you boy!" Bud said. "Well I guess I can't call you that anymore. You've grown into a real man."

Gideon's mom Darla hugged her son. "We thought we would never see you again! Then we get this phone call from the sheriff saying that you were on that spaceship in the news! It's a miracle."

Gideon tried to hold back his tears. "I'm so glad to see you both again." He then looked at the girl in the corner again. "But who is that?"

Bud gave a sigh. "Gideon remember the day you left that your mom was at the doctor's office? Well she was there to double check a pregnancy test. Gideon this is Erika, your little sister. We wanted to surprise you after you got back from your camping trip, but this is not how we wanted it to go."

Gideon felt like he was in a tornado. He had a sister whose whole life he'd missed. She had to be fourteen years old if she was born after he left. "Don't think you can tell me what to do." Erika said.

Darla turned to her daughter. "Erika! Don't speak to your brother like that! He's finally home after so long and your disrespectful tone is not what he needs after what he's been through." This was not something had seen his mother do. It looks like she got more assertive over the years.

Erika snapped back. "A fifteen-year cruise in space yeah sounds so hard! I didn't need a big brother before, and I don't need one now!" She then turned to Gideon. "My whole life they said they would not repeat the mistakes they made with you! They kept your room as you left it like a shrine! I'm the only one in this town who tries to bring some excitement with my awesome stunts! But they keep trying to make me stop saying they don't want to lose me like they lost you! The rush is my life!"

"Erika we just don't want you to get hurt sweetie." Bud said trying to calm his daughter down.

"I wear a helmet and pads all the time!" Erika screamed. "Why won't you trust me!"

Gideon couldn't stand it anymore. "Stop!" He yelled. He took a few deep breathes and calmed down as everyone was in stunned silence. "I don't know what all this is about but what I've been through was not always easy especially in the first couple of years. Erika I'm sorry if you feel like you've always been in my shadow. Before I was taken, I was trying to be a better person and I don't know what kind of brother I would have been if I wasn't abducted."

"It's not like I don't get that you guys were really hurt by what happened, but I need to be me. It's hard not think of myself a replacement for the kid you lost." Erika said rubbing her arms.

"Sweetie we never thought as a replacement." Bud said hugging his daughter.

"Was it really that bad out there?" Erika asked in a hushed tone.

"The first thing that happened was we were all sold into slavery. Mabel and Dipper got lucky and escaped right away but I was dragged off by this crazy woman named Neryo."

"What did she do to you?" Darla asked.

Fifteen years ago,

Neryo carried Gideon to her ship and strapped him into a seat tightly since he was smaller than the harness. "Where are you taking me?" Gideon was still panicking. Neryo ignored him and got into the pilot seat and flew away from the station. "Please I just want to go home!" Gideon pleaded.

After setting a course Gideon's new owner got up and stomped her hoofed foot. "Be quiet! You do not address your general in such a way! You are one of my solders now and you will obey orders! Do otherwise and you are dead! If you want your freedom and a chance to go home, then you will help me win my war! Those are your only options now! Win and go home or die on the battlefield! Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes." Gideon whimpered.

"A solder says 'Sir! Yes sir!'" Neryo shouted.

"Sir! Yes sir!"

"Good. Seems like you not only a scrawny little thing but stupid too! It's like you don't know anything about what going on in this galaxy!"

"I never left my home planet before sir!"

Neryo took a breath. "You don't realize the honor I gave you. I was hoping for more yes, but you are going to help restore the Onyx Dynasty. A grand empire that united hundreds of star systems. It's leader, my mother, was killed by the Grand Cosmic Imperium. Now we fight to restore our empire. When we win; you will be considered a hero. But first I need to pick up more weapons and take you to your unit. I cannot oversee you myself, I have too many operations to command. You'll be in the highly capable hands of my second in command Piker. Welcome to the Onyx Brotherhood."

A week later Gideon was woken up by the sound of an alarm. Gideon was now wearing an Onyx Brotherhood uniform a yellow tank top with green pants and brown boots. "What is going on Sir?" he asked.

Neryo ignored him again. "Kill Cruiser 48 this is Kill Cruiser 1. Standby for docking along with supplies and new personal." Gideon look out the window and saw a black ship that looked like a series of cubes connected by a central structure.

Neryo pulled Gideon along to the airlock on the other side was a red skinned man with black hair, a goatee, and had three eyes, but his left eye had an eyepatch. He looked at Gideon disapprovingly. "Is this the only reinforcement we get?" He said.

"I was out bided with everything else. So, take this runt and make him into a warrior. You're getting more than enough weapons to make up for it, Piker." Neryo said.

"Alright. Guess we have to chisel the man out of the baby fat." Piker pulled Gideon onto his ship. "I'll give you a call if anything changes in the Borhual system." With that he closed the airlock door. Piker then went to intercom. "Grual, Draga get over to the cargo bay and begin the weapons transfer. Chugar, Holar get our recruit situated. He has a lot to learn and get him some dog tags."

Two aliens came up to him. One looked like a pink shaved cat girl his age in the same uniform. The other looked like a middle-aged man in a full red and black space suit that had ridges on his forehead. The inside of his helmet was lit up green. The latter spoke first. "Well hell it's about damn time we got some fresh bodies here. Name's Holar."

The cat girl spoke next. "And I'm Chugar nice to have someone young join us. Welcome to our unit! We're called Piker's Raiders! So why did you join and what's your name?"

Gideon still had a knot in his stomach that started a week ago. "Gideon and I was taken from my planet and sold to your general. I just want to go home."

Piker groaned. "Don't even think of running off. Only the leader of the brotherhood can discharge a soldier. If you abandon your post, then it is the duty of every member of the brotherhood to hunt down and kill you. Holar get to work on him, I'm going to the bridge and get him a Hexa-blaster. You got your orders. Raiders Roll!" With that he left.

"Sure thing, old friend." Holar saluted.

"Don't mind Piker. He's been fighting for most of his life." Chugar said. Now let's get you a bunk and then what should we teach him first Holar?"

Holar chuckled. "Well we can't teach him how to blow stuff up on the ship, so I guess first is how not to snack in between meals!"

An hour later as Gideon was forced to do pushups two other members of the unit came into the barracks. "Draga, Grual, meet out new comrade Gideon! I'm going to teach him how fire a hexa-blaster and fly a rocket pack!" Chugar said.

Draga was a brown, slender lizard like man with a club like tail. "Good because I'm the only sniper we need. This flabby thing is doing it all wrong leave his physical training to me."

Grual was a male of Neryo's species, with filed down horns. "The lads hair reminds me of something. What were they called?" Grual ruffed Gideon hair.

"Stop it just leave me alone!" Gideon screamed as he went into one of his rages.

Everyone was taken aback. Then Grual smiled. "A Punwidge! That's it! They're small, pudgy, have these large tuffs of hair and when you mess with their herd things tend to explode." With that the others began to laugh.

"Well looks like you got yourself a nickname Punwidge." Holar said laughing.

And so, Gideon's training began. A year of absolute hell. Grual taught him how to fix and even upgrade machines. "Treat an engine right and it will get you through any scrape." Gideon tried to make the adjustment he was just shown, and he got shocked.

Draga true to his word focus on Gideons physical training on the rocky planet of Borhual that was the Raiders base. "First thing we need to do is make you less of a target." Draga swung a knife just over Gideon scalp giving him a flat top hair cut in a second.

"My hair!" Gideon screamed.

"Your welcome Punwidge now put on that weighted pack. We are going for a five-kilometer run and I expect with each one that your time to get better! And after that weight training! I've seen coral slugs lift heavier things than you do!"

Holar taught Gideon everything he knew about explosives. "Slide your thumb back and toss it. If you need to set a timed charge twist the top a quarter turn for every thirty seconds you need." Gideon slide the blue circle on the round, silver grenade he was holding but when the circle flashed red, he got scared and dropped it. Holar picked it up and threw it into the distance as it exploded. "Damn it boy! The Imperium's not going to throw dummy grenades at you! All exercises are live fire!"

And Chugar trained Gideon in marksmanship and flying his rock pack. "You can do it Gideon! Remember it's not like the ships weapons, there's no computer to give you a lock on."

Gideon was flying with his pack with Chugar right beside him with hers. He tried to shoot a target placed on a small peak but while he hit it with red energy bolts the rapid fire of his gun pushed him back and was flying out of control. "Help me!"

"Gideon you got to plan ahead and fly to push back against the recoil!"

Piker didn't seem to want anything to do with Gideon. One-time Gideon wanted to ask him about if he could use the ship's communications. "Commander I want to see if any of the brotherhood heard anything about my friends." Piker closed the door to his quarters in Gideon's face.

But he grew and not just in height. He was getting smarter. "If we reconfigure it like this then we might use less fuel." Gideon said showing Grual a schematic.

"That might just work. Good thinking Punwidge." Grual gave have a slap on the back.

He was getting leaner, faster, and stronger. Gideon ran while holding weights just out of reach of Draga's tail. "That's how you do it rookie! Only have a kilometer to go!" Draga said as he sped up with Gideon keeping pace.

He was getting braver. "Here's a couple of gifts from me!" Gideon tossed two grenades at some Imperium forces.

As they exploded Holar laughed as he fired his gun. "Now that's how you do it!"

And most of all he was growing closer with his comrades in the Raiders. He saw they were hard on him so he would survive. "Really Gideon? Most of the trees near your hometown had green needles instead of red pods?" Chugar asked as they ate together.

"They sure do Chugar. I hope to show them to you someday." Before he knew it, he had been with them for a year.

Fifteen years later,

"They made you into a child soldier?" Darla was horrified.

"You killed people." Erika whispered.

Gideon tried to explain. "Only enemy soldiers or I would be dead. My unit taught me everything I need to survive but all their lessons never prepared me for one of most defining moments of my life."

"Son you don't have to say anything more if you don't feel like it." Bud said.

"No Dad. I need to." Gideon said rubbing his hands.

Fourteen years ago,

Gideon and Chugar were standing watch near their ships hidden dock. There were a lot of stars out and everything was quiet. "One thing I never understood is why are we fighting over this pile of rocks." Gideon asked.

"This planet is rich in Vyron crystals that ships need for Hyper Jump. Without this world we could find ourselves cut off from the other units of the brotherhood." Chugar answered. "Gideon who do you miss most from home?"

"That's easy. Mabel. I feel in love with her the first time I saw her, but I wasn't a nice guy then. I threatened her brother when I thought he was trying to break us up among other things. She couldn't stand me for a long time after that, we were starting to be friends again when all this happened."

Chugar tilted her head. "What is she like?"

Gideon smiled as he thought about Mabel. "While her looks are what first attracted me to her what I really fell in love with was her positive and friendly personality. She could befriend anyone and almost always saw the positive. She would like you. You're brave, adventurous, and curious. And she loves cats."

"What's a cat?" Chugar asked.

Gideon awkwardly tried to describe them. "They're animals. You look a lot like them except they're smaller, walk on all fours, and fluffier."

"Sounds cute." Chugar thought for a moment. "Gideon, you're my best friend and I will do everything in my power to let you see Mabel again."

"Thank you. You're one of the best friends I've ever had too." Gideon thought for a moment. "Chugar you never told me why you are in the Brotherhood."

"It's nothing that special really, my family has been fighting in the brotherhood since it was founded. I'm the last one." Chugar pulled out a pendent from under her clothes that looked like a cat's eye. "My people believe that our ancestors can watch over us through these talismans like this, so they are still with me. And the Raiders have become my second family. Look this was taken after a victory we had one month before you joined." Chugar took out a photo of her and the other Raiders laughing and drinking."

Gideon studied the picture. "I didn't know Piker could smile." He said pointing to Piker who had Chugar on his lap. "He doesn't like me."

"There has to be a reason Gideon. The Commander's one the bravest most honorable men I've ever known. He's my hero, before he joined the Brotherhood, he was a marshal of one of the roughest planets in the Dynasty. When the Imperium took his home over, he joined up and climbed the ranks all the way to Neryo's second in command. He always makes sure we never target civilians and chews out units that do. He's always talking about how we are going to rebuild our worlds better than they were before the Imperium invaded. And he makes sure we never leave a comrade behind."

"He might leave me behind." Gideon then yawned.

"We'll talk about it more later. Get some rest I'll take the first watch." Chugar said.

"Okay." Gideon placed his gun down on a nearby rock."

"You sure you don't want it closer?" Chugar asked.

"I don't want to roll over it and set it off." He began to close his eyes looking up to the stars. "Good night Mabel."

The next thing Gideon knew a bolt of energy hit Chugar in her lower torso bleeding white blood. Gideon snapped up and tried to reach for his gun, but it was blasted apart. He crawled over and grabbed Chugar's hexa-blaster. "Gideon, help…help me." Chugar cried.

Gideon shot at his attackers in the dark while talking on his communicator. "We are under attack! Repeat we're under attack! Chugar's been hit!" Gideon kept firing. "Stay away from her! Stay away!" This went on for a few minutes until Gideon was hit in the leg. "No. Not like this."

An Imperium soldier stood over him but was then hit in the head with a long range shot. Piker rode in on a hover bike with a giant snake skull over the bars shooting with his pistol. "Draga keep providing covering fire!"

Grual and Holar rode in on a jeep with tank treads. Grual drove while Holar fired with a rocket launcher. "Die Imperium scum!" Holar shouted as jump off the jeep and fired another round.

"Grual help Chugar back to the ship!" Piker ordered.

"Don't worry you two! I got ya!" Grual said placing Chugar and Gideon on the jeep.

"I tried to fight them as long as I could." Gideon said in pain.

"You did good lad." Grual said as he began to drive back to their dock. He turned on the vehicles com. "Draga meet up back at the ship! I'm going to need help if we're going to save Chugar!"

"Holar and I will cover you!" Piker said. "Raiders Roll!"

They got back to the ship as fast as they could. Grual placed Chugar on a bunk and pulled out a spray can. "She's lost too much blood and was hit in the heart. If she doesn't get a plasma booster now, she won't make it! Draga find some now!" He sprayed Chugar's wound and it began to close. He then tossed the can to Gideon. "Seal your wound."

Piker and Holar came in. "We took out all of those Imperium goons." Piker said.

As Gideon did as he was told Draga threw box of medicines. "All we got are painkillers and antibiotics!"

Piker pulled out his pistol and aimed at Gideon. "This is your fault! If she dies, you're next!"

"Hold on Commander! He acted just like a Punwidge. His herd was attacked, and he exploded!" Grual shouted.

Holar stood between Piker and Gideon. "You and I have been friends for a long time. We started the Raiders together. You have done everything to keep this crew together. But you have been harder on that boy than you have with any of the rest us! Tonight, he could have ran and saved his own skin, but he didn't! He stood his ground and wouldn't leave a comrade behind! You may not want to admit it, but Gideon is a Raider like any us!"

"Stop it!" Chugar screamed. "I don't want to die seeing my family tear itself apart!"

"Chugar you shouldn't move!" Draga said.

Chugar ignored him and pulled out the photo, careful not to stain any of the faces with her blood. "Commander take this, remember who you are. I don't know why you hate Gideon but there must be a good reason. You are a good man. Please make sure that he survives this war!" Piker took the picture. "Gideon take this, it will let me watch over you." She took off her talisman.

"I can't take that." Gideon said.

"Please. Take it… find your way home…and…and show me those green trees you told me…a…about. Raiders Roll." She places the eye in his hand and died.

Fourteen years later,

"I still have it." Gideon pulled out the Talisman. "With all the excitement I haven't showed her yet, but I am going to keep my promise." Gideon's family was in stunned silence. "Since then this and her gun was always been close, and I can't help but get nervous without my gun. Mabel has been a big help with that. The next year was when Mabel and Dipper found me."

Thirteen years ago,

Dipper and Mabel had just finished unloading the shipment of weapons to Onyx Brotherhood members on their moon base. They were now sixteen years old. "I don't like this Dipper. These guys blew up a hospital two days ago!"

"Mabel trading with them was your idea. We can't help it if what most them want are weapons." Dipper touched his quan disk to the disk of a large crab like alien. "We have one more thing we want in payment. We're looking for a member of our race that should be serving in the Brotherhood. He'd be younger than we are with white hair."

"Now that you mentioned it, I did see someone like that in Piker's Raiders when we delivered some food supplies to them last week. They operate in the Borhual system. They shouldn't be hard to find; it only has one planet."

"Estimated travel time to the Borhual system thirty-six standard hours." Ixcia said.

Dipper was overcome with joy. "I can't believe it he's only a day and a half away! Ixcia! Prepare for immediate launch!"

Mabel couldn't contain her enthusiasm. "I'll plot a course for Borhual! Hang on Gideon we're coming for you!"

Thirty-six hours later in the Borhual system.

Kill Cruiser 48 was taking heavy fire from a large Imperium ship that looked like a gold ring with two saucers attached to its sides. "Tri-laser cannons are down! The power conduits have been severed!" Draga yelled. He, Gideon and Holar were on the bridge.

"Grual can you repair them?" Holar asked over the coms.

Grual answered from the engine room. "I'm doing all I can to keep this bucket in the stars!"

A beeping came from Gideon's station. Gideon was now officially a teenager at thirteen years old. "Incoming channel from the enemy ship!" he said.

Holar made a quick decision. "Let 'em talk it might buy us time. Gideon help Grual out!"

Gideon opened the channel and began to run to the engine room. On the main screen a man with yellow skin and black hair appeared. He had an egg-shaped head his two eyes were lined up vertically rather horizontally he only had two small holes for a nose. "I am Kondar, captain of the Imperium destroyer Hand of Suprema. Your defenses are gone, and you are at my mercy. However, as an officer and a gentleman I am willing to spare your lives if you surrender." Kondar's voice was fed through the ship's intercom.

Gideon made it to the engine room. "Sounds like a windbag. He should be talking for a good long while. How bad is it?"

Grual wiped sweat from his brow. "I won't lie to you Punwidge. It's bad. One more hit we're goners."

Back on the Bridge Holar asked. "And why the hell should we do that?"

Kondar looked like he smelled something foul when he heard Holar's crude language. "Because today is the day the Onyx Brotherhood terrorist organization meets it's end. Two days ago, I captured your mercenary allies and in exchange for thier lives they told us that General Neryo was meeting with her second in command Commander Piker on this planet today. I have already dispatched an elite squad of Centurions to kill them, to cut off the head as it were. I am offering you and your crew a chance to live, to repent of you many crimes. You have fifteen seconds to give me your answer.

Draga shook his head no after reading a report from the engine room. It was hopeless.

Holar banged his fist against his armor. "I don't need one. Go frag yourself!"

Kondar looked disappointed. "Crude and defiant to the last then. Fire!"

The destroyer fired. In the engine room sparks flew from the engine. "Gideon look out!" Grual pushed Gideon out of the room as the engine exploded. Grual was incinerated.

"Grual!" Gideon screamed. He then felt the ship tip.

"We're going down! Everyone, strap yourselves in!" Draga said over the intercom. Gideon ran to a chair like the one Neryo strapped him into two years ago. He didn't have time to think about how he grew into it as he secured himself while the ship fell to the planet below.

Earlier on the Ixcia,

"We'll be in the Borhual system any second now." Mabel said at navigation. As they came out of Hyper Jump the twins saw a ship that they recognize as a kill cruiser from all their trading and a ring like ship they never seen before.

"Activating cloak." Ixcia said.

"Ixcia what's wrong?" Dipper asked sitting at the helm.

"That is an Imperium destroyer. The most powerful type of ship in their fleet. We do not have the fire power to fight such a ship."

Mabel pointed at the second ship. "That giant space doughnut shooting at that kill cruiser! Gideon could be on board!"

They saw the rear of the cruiser burst into flame as it began to tilt. "The Kill Cruiser's engines have been destroyed. It is being pulled into the planet's gravity well." Ixcia said.

Dipper flown Ixcia toward the planet. "Ixcia track that cruiser! We're going to follow it. Hang on Gideon, we're almost there! Don't die on us now!"

Gideon didn't know how long he was out. He woke with a stabbing pain in his left side. He looked down and saw a fragment of the ship was sticking into him. He lifted the harness and walked to the bridge despite the pain. When he got there, he looked around found Draga staring at him with dead eyes. "Draga no…" Gideon then heard coughing and turn to see Holar with his helmet broke seeing his cream-colored skin for the first time. "Holar are you hurt?"

Holar coughed again. "Suit ruptured. Damn my people's candy-ass immune system!" Holar went into a coughing fit. "Kid, with this infection and my injuries I'm a goner. Where's Grual?"

"He died when the engine blew." Gideon was crying.

"Then it's up to you." Holar coughed up green blood. "You heard that windbag say it. They're after the commander! See that mountain?" He pointed to a distant mountain. "He's meeting Neryo in a canyon just under it. Fly there…you might save 'em. Raiders… don't leave their comrades…behind."

"I don't know if I can make it with this." Gideon pointed to the shrapnel sticking out of him.

"Gideon you got to try. You can do…" Holar couldn't finish speaking as his eyes shut for the last time.

"It's up to me then." Gideon made his way out of the ship despite the pain, but his vision was blurry. He heard the roar of engines as he collapsed. He closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, he saw the most beautiful woman he ever seen standing over him with long brown hair. "I really must be dying if I'm seeing angels. "

"Not if I can help it!" The woman said opening a bag of medical supplies that snapped off to the back of her belt.

A man with a birth mark in the shape of the Big Dipper came up from behind the woman. "Come on Gideon! We've come too far and done too much to lose you now!"

"Dipper? Mabel?" Gideon could not believe his eyes.

Mabel who since their time in prison last year had trained herself to be their medic injected Gideon with a painkiller. "Dipper I need you to pull this out so I can seal the wound." She held up the bio sealer spray can and another injection. "Then I'm going to give him a plasma booster."

"Right!" Dipper held onto the shrapnel with his power gauntlet. "On three! 1,2,3!" He pulled it out while Mabel used the spray sealing Gideons wound. She then used the injection. As his body quickly made more blood cells Gideon became more alert.

"It's going to be okay Gideon." Mabel said. Gideon could hardly believe it but Mabel had grown even more beautiful. When he first met her, she was a girl but now she was a woman. Her curves, her height, he never felt like this before. This was more than just some crush.

"Let's get you onboard Ixcia and get you out of here." Dipper said.

Dipper's words snapped Gideon out of his lustful stupor. He was a Raider and Raiders don't leave their comrades behind. "We can't leave, my commander is in danger!"

"Gideon these people forced you to fight their war for two years! You don't owe them anything!" Dipper tried to reason with him.

"You're wrong! The Raiders aren't like the rest of the Brotherhood! And even if I leave, I would be disserting my post! The brotherhood would hunt me down and kill me! Piker is with Neryo! She is the only one who can release me from the Brotherhood!"

Mabel looked to her brother. "We have too many guys hunting us down as it is. We may not have a choice."

"They should be in a canyon under that mountain!" Gideon pointed in the direction they need to go.

Ixcia's voice came over Dipper and Mabel's communicators. "My scans show that canyon is too narrow for me to land in."

"Then we'll take the jet bike." Dipper said as the bike flew out of the cloaked ship. "Gideon you get inside Ixcia. We'll get Neryo to release you even if have to force her." The crystal in Dipper's gauntlet glowed as he clenched his fist.

"No this is my mission and I have to finish it!" Gideon said standing up.

"Gideon you can't move around too much! You'll tear the seal!" Mabel pleaded.

"My dead comrades are counting on me! I must complete my mission!"

Dipper sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Okay, you ride with Mabel on the jet bike. I'll keep up with my boosters."

"You can only fly with them for ten minutes before they need to recharge for fifteen. Can you make it in that time?' Mabel asked.

"If I push them then I think so yes."

Mabel helped Gideon onto the jet bike. "You grew and got skinner. Guess we can't call you Lil' Gideon anymore." Mabel climbed on herself. "Hold on tight to my waist. Tell me if you start to feel any pain. Oh, and keep your hands right where they are Gideon."

Gideon blushed a said nothing as they flew off. "Alright, let's go!" Dipper said as he took off.

Part way to the canyon Ixcia contacted them. "Dipper, Mabel. My scans of the crashed cruiser show that while it's Tri-laser cannons are disconnected from its power grid they are largely intact and could be integrated with my systems once we get to a proper space dock. This would make me a match for Imperium cruisers. Soostron can move them to my cargo hold with the power loader along with any other components we might be able to salvage. Shall I have him begin?"

Dipper looked to Gideon who nodded yes. "Do it Ixcia. We've needed more fire power from day one."

When they reached to mouth of the canyon, they found something they were not expecting. "It's the centurions that were going after Piker but…"

"All their heads have been chopped off." Mabel said looking down at the bodies.

Dipper pulled out his scantrix to get some readings. "Gideon you've been on this planet a lot, right? Do you know of any animals here that could do this?"

"No." Gideon said pulling gun off his rocket pack. "And Piker and Neryo prefer guns to blades I don't think they did this."

"Scans show that the each were struck once with a very sharp blade. Someone cut their heads off with a single move each."

"Whoever did could be after Piker we have to hurry!" Gideon yelled.

Dipper continued to look at the scantrix. "My boosters need to recharge. We're are going on foot from here everyone stay alert."

They made their way down the canyon each with weapons at the ready. "Are we close Dipper?" Mabel asked.

"I'm picking up three humanoids ahead." Dipper said as they turned a corner to see Piker and Neryo together, the sun right above them in the sky.

"Gideon what are you doing here?" Piker asked.

"Who the hell are all of you?" Neryo growled pointing two guns at them.

Gideon answered his commander. "The Imperium learned about your meeting from mercenaries they caught and sent a squad after you. We came to save you, but they were already dead. Sir the ship crashed, the others they're all dead."

"What?" Piker was shocked. Before anyone knew it, someone jumped down from the higher up in the canyon. It was a young woman in a skintight black jumpsuit with a long blonde ponytail holding a pair of long triangular daggers and had a black and yellow vizor over her eyes. She leapt at Neryo who shot at her, but she dodged with speed and grace. The girl slashed Neryo's guns in half then as Neryo tried to punch her attacker she spun around sliding to behind the Brotherhood's leader and stabbed her in the back with her left hand, orange blood spilling out the other side. She then pulled the other blade to the general's throat with her right. "Stop!" Piker shouted. "She has to know why she is going to die." He said with venom in his voice.

The young woman lowered her head and used her right thumb to push her visor up never losing her grip on her dagger. She then lifted her head and looked at Piker. "The clients orders must be obeyed." The three humans recognized her.

"Pacifica?!" the they all said at once.

Piker was surprised by their familiarity with the sixteen-year girl. "You all know this girl? She is a Felggur assassin I hired." They tried to move closer to their long-lost friend when Piker pulled out his pistol. "Don't move! I'm not going to let you stop her!"

"Traitor!" Neryo wheezed spiting up more blood.

"Yes, I betrayed you and you want to know why?" Piker pointed to Gideon. "Because of him!"

"Me?" Gideon didn't understand.

Piker ignored Gideon and continued to talk to Neryo. "I heard you when he came here. You don't even remember him! He is everything wrong with the Onyx Brother! He is an outsider with no real stake in our war just like those mercs who betrayed us to the Imperium! He is a slave when we are fighting for all our people's freedom! And most of all he was a child just like Chugar! A girl who died too young in your war! Who died because you cared more about having your soldiers well-armed than making sure they had proper medical supplies! My men, my brothers died fighting a war to free us from one tyrant not knowing we were going to replace him with another! Because all you care about is reclaiming your mother's crown!"

"The Onyx Dynasty is mine by birthright!" Neryo spat.

"Your Dynasty died with your mother! A tyrant just like you! For twenty years I fought to build a better future for children like Chugar and Gideon, but you are too caught up with recapturing past glory and don't care who dies to get it! That changes today because when you die, I become the new leader of the brotherhood and there will be no more hired guns and murderers who target civilians in my brotherhood! There will be no more slaves who lost their freedom to fight for ours! And most of all there be no more children dying before their time! And that's all I have to say about that."

"Bastard!" Neryo shouted as Pacifica slit her throat. Pacifica then twirled her daggers so fast all the blood flew off. She then hung the daggers off her belt. In the whole thing not one drop of blood got on her.

Mabel was the first to recover from the shock. "Okay that was intense, but everything is all right now! We're all back together and now we can all go back to our ship and find a way home."

Pacifica moved to a fighting stance. "I must return to the Felggur." Her voice was cold and barely had any feeling to it and her eyes had a glazed look in them.

"Pacifica it's over. Just come with us." Dipper pleaded.

"No, I must obey the laws of Felggur. Obedience is everything."

"Pacifica what's wrong with you? It's us your friends!" Gideon said gun shaking in his hands.

Pacifica lowered her hands in reach of the daggers.

Piker tuned his gun on Pacifica. "Stop that right now! Neryo is dead! The mission is over! There is no reason for you to fight them."

"The mission is over. The target was eliminated so you are no longer a client and I no longer must obey you. Only the laws of the Felggur."

Dipper came to a horrifying realization. "The soldiers at the entrance of the canyon. That was you!"

Pacifica reached up and pulled down he visor. "Yes. They got in the way of my assignment and had to be eliminated. Don't get my way."

Mabel was crying. "Pacifica please! We don't have to this! This isn't you! Don't make us do something crazy!"

"You're better than this Pacifica!" Dipper said.

In an instant Pacifica reached for a small pack on the back of her belt. "Look out!" Piker yelled as there was a blinding flash of light. The next thing they knew Pacifica was gone.

"Why Pacifica?" Mabel cried.

Gideon dropped his gun. "She wasn't acting like the Pacifica I knew. Is this my fault? We promised each other to help us both be better people."

"We've got go after her!" Mabel yelled.

"Don't bother!" Piker said putting his gun away. "She used a flash disk. It stuns whoever looks at it without protective eyewear. Look, the sun was right above us but now it's at an angle and our shadows are longer. We've been standing here like a bunch of slack jawed idiots for about an hour. She's long gone by now. Probably left on a ship."

Dipper turned to Piker and pushed him against the canyon wall and held up his gloved hand ready to punch him. "You hired her! The last time we saw her she was bought as a slave by a man from the Azure Crown Star Cluster! Tell me everything about these Felggur you know, or I am going to smash in your skull!"

"Dipper!" Gideon yelled.

"It's all right Gideon. He's upset and I am more than willing to tell you all what I know but it isn't much. Like you probably figured out the Felggur is an order of assassins. What you said about who bought your friend seemed to confirm the rumors that their headquarters is somewhere in in Azure Crown Cluster. They are expensive to hire, I had to save my whole pay for two years to pay for their services. There is a com channel you can call them on but don't bother. It's untraceable, they check their targets, you must pay in advance and you can never choose the assassin. They always assign them to you so you can't trick them by ordering a fake job and asking for her. The worst thing is they take their recruits in as children, mentally condition them to obey their orders and train them to be living weapons. That's what the name Felggur means, children of death."

Dipper let Piker go and lowered his fist. "So, you're saying Pacifica's brainwashed. That they are controlling her!"

"That about sums it up yes. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to go the Kill Cruiser and bury my comrades."

"Of course, sir." Gideon said and then realized something. "I gave them permission to take our tri-laser canons. I hope I didn't overstep."

"Salvage rights. Finders keepers. Just let me take a few personal items. If they survived the crash."

"We better hurry back then." Mabel said. "Those Imp soldiers haven't reported for at least an hour and their bosses will send a search party.

"Imps?" Piker didn't understand.

"Short for Imperials. It's also the name of small demons on our planet." Dipper explained.

"Fitting. Think I'll spread that around. My bike is just behind that rock. Let's go."

Mabel had a demand to make. "Gideon is riding with me. I treated his injuries and I must look after them. And I don't want any arguments from you. Even if you the leader of some tough rebel space army."

"Mabel." Gideon was both flattered and shocked that she would talk to the Commander, no General like that.

"Mabel? So, this is the girl I heard you telling the guys you were sweet on. Watch yourself with her, she's a spitfire." Piker chuckled. They rode back to the ships seeing Soostron in the power loader carrying a crate full of explosives. "That's one of Holar's fun boxes. He always knew how to keep them secure. But looks like he didn't write a message on it like he always did. Guess he didn't have time."

Gideon had a sad look on his face. "Do you guy have a spectral painter?" He asked Dipper and Mabel.

"I use it a lot to draw." Mabel said.

"Good; I know what I should put on this. I know where their bodies are. Draga and Holar are in the bridge. What's left of Grual should be in the engine room."

Piker entered the wreck. "There is something I want for the funeral among those personal items. Let's split up and meet back here."

Dipper asked Soostron a question. "Soostron as soon as your done securing that crate could you help us dig some graves?" The robot nodded.

Dipper came out dragging the large suit of Holar with his gauntlet while Mabel carried Draga. Gideon came back carrying a charred skull and dog tags while dragging his footlocker. "This is all could find of Grual. He saved my life."

"Those are your things?" Dipper asked.

Gideon look down at the locker. "Just some spare uniforms and my training weights. Everything else of mine I'm carrying with me."

Piker came out of the ship holding two items. "I found my old marshal's badge and the photo Chugar gave me. I had a bottle of Olar whiskey I was saving for our final victory. Figured I'd pour them one last drink, but the bottle broke in the crash. Nothing to do about that. Shame."

With the graves dug and the Raiders laid to rest in them, scrap metal from the Cruiser 48 used as tombstones with their dog tags hanging from them, Gideon was the first to speak a few words. "You three helped make me who I am today. At first, I thought you all just wanted to tease me and make me suffer. But you all knew you had to push me hard if the pile of pudding I was would have a chance. Thank you all."

Piker sighed. "You boys were my brothers for most of my life. I know what I must do but I just never thought I'd have to do it without you guys. That was one of the reasons I didn't tell any you what I was doing so that if it went sideways you all would be safe. But it's like you always said Grual. We got to fix things ourselves because the universe is cruel and doesn't give a shit about us. Draga, figures it would take the whole ship crashing to take you down. That cocky attitude of yours always seemed to make it seem like you had your own built in force field. Holar, we joined the Brotherhood at the same time and made the Raiders together. You spoke your mind and was always ready with a joke. When things seem dark, I will think back to you my old friend. All of you give Chugar my love. She let me know what it was like to have daughter. You all saw something in Gideon I didn't see or didn't want to see." Piker turned to Gideon. "The day we met all I saw was the things about this war I hated. But without realizing it you have grown into a fine young man with so much more potential. It's only now that when I look back that I know you are worthy of my respect. That is why as my first order as General of the Onyx Brother that I release you from your service. You are going to do great things out there."

Gideon was shocked at the prospect of his own freedom. "But sir what about you? You might need my help…"

"Don't be a damn fool now!" Piker shouted. "You have too much to do! Didn't you make a promise to Chugar? To show her spirit your planet's trees? And don't make me doubt our comrades' faith in you! Your friend is still out there alive, and she needs your help! Prove to me once and for all that you are the Raider they believed you to be!"

Gideon sniffed with tears in his eyes. "A Raider never leaves his comrades behind." When he said it he had wiped away his tears.

"You're not my soldier anymore but consider this my final mission for you! Go with your friends and save that Pacifica girl. Then get yourselves home and keep your promise to Chugar!"

Gideon stood as straight as he could and gave a salute. "Sir! Yes, sir!"

Piker then spoke to the Pines twins. "You two look out for him. I know you can do it with that ship of yours."

"What do you mean?" Dipper asked.

Piker pointed to ship that while still cloaked had gathered some dust from the wind. "I may have only two good eyes but that is the outline of a Larnekian Star Singer mark three. They only made fifty of them before the Imps blew up the shipyard they were made at a hundred years ago. While she is a cargo ship what you got there is a rare and beautiful work of craftsmanship."

Mabel turned to the ship. "Ixcia why didn't you tell us you were so special?"

"You never asked." The ship replied.

"I walked into that one. Are you getting a sense of humor after spending so much time with us?"

Piker chuckled as he got on his bike. "Ixcia. The name of the Larnekian goddess of good fortune. I take it as a good omen for you all. Now none of you worry about me. There's a mining town a few hours ride from here. It's where Neryo lands her private shuttle here and it has a cloaking device. I'll get off this planet just fine." Piker stopped for a minute. "Hey Gideon, one last thing! Toss me your dog tags!"

"Why do you want those?" Gideon asked.

"I'll always treasure Chugar's photo, but it doesn't have all my Raiders. I want something to remember you by!" Without a word Gideon took off his dog tags and threw them at Piker who caught it in one hand and rode off.

"Well Gideon I think it's safe to say that there nothing for you here anymore." Dipper said.

"There's just one thing I want to do before we take off." Gideon said.

"You need this right?" Mabel held a device with a nozzle, a black vertical cylinder with a handle and a touchscreen with several colors. "Ever use a spectral painter before?"

"A couple of times." Gideon touched a corner of the screen that was black and began to wright on the grey box the used to belong to Holar.

"Not bad." Dipper said as the cargo bay closed. He then realized something. "I almost forgot." He pulled out the scrantrix. "Ixcia, update crew manifest."

"Right like when we first came aboard." Mabel said as Dipper scanned Gideon. "Just say your first name into Dipper's scantrix so our ship's A.I. will to listen and help you. She'll want to keep you safe."

"Gideon." He said.

Dipper had a satisfied look. "There. Icxia should be connecting to your translator implant to talk to you if you lose your communicator and she can you track with it too."

"So, this ship will actually care about me?" While Gideon's old ship had a computer, it wasn't a sentient A.I.

Mabel urged the boys on to the lift. "It's her rule number two. Rule one is she has to do what the captain says."

"Oh, right which of you should I report to?"

Dipper held up his hands as they made it to common area. "Relax Gideon. It's sorta weird but both me and Mabel are co-captains, but we decided a long time ago when you and Pacifica got back we would do things democratically. You were just discharged remember? You're a civilian again."

They lead Gideon to the crew quarters. "We already had Soostron put your stuff in your room." Mabel said. "It's the one right next to Dipper's room. Tell me what color you want for your name on the door and I'll write you. We'll give you the grand tour after we have Ixcia check on that wound in the sickbay but first let's get out of this system."

"I'll take navigation this time." Dipper said. You want take helm Gideon?"

"They…said they'd teach me to fly the cruiser next year if the war wasn't over by then." Gideon hung his head.

Mabel pat Gideon's back before taking the helm. "Oh, sorry Gideon! We're both just so excited that we have you back. I guess we forgot that you'll need time mourn." They lifted off the surface and saw the destroyer was still in orbit.

"At least we're still cloaked." Dipper said just something hit Ixcia and the Destroyer locked on to them with a tractor beam. "Seriously? Ixcia what happened?"

Gideon was a little surprised to see Ixcia's avatar. "Debris from the Kill Cruiser's sensor array impacted my hull, spreading highly charged theta particles." She said.

"Which to the Imps sensors lit us up like a Christmas tree and that tractor beam is keeping us from raising the shields or jumping! Can't something go according to plan once?" Dipper yelled.

"Does it ever for us?" Mabel said as a channel was opened.

The Imperium captain looked at the humans with a calm but arrogant look. "I am Captain Kondar of the Imperium destroyer Hand of Suprema. We have scanned your vessel and your weapons are useless against us."

"You killed my friends!" Gideon shouted.

"Sir! Those lifeforms are wanted for heresy! We should just destroy them now!" a crewman said.

"Try it and we'll blow some holes in your space donut!" Mabel said.

"Hold your fire until my command! We must show these barbarians who side with the Onyx Brotherhood that we are more noble than they. I shall give you fifteen minutes to make peace with yourselves before I blast your ship out of the stars and let your energies rejoin with the heart of the cosmos. It is a shame that I must end lives so young." Kondar closed the channel and turn to his men. "They may make one last desperate attempt to fight back but they have nothing that can destroy this ship. My strategic planning is unmatched. They are doomed."

On the Ixcia at the same time. "Is there any weakness we can use? Dipper asked.

"Scans show that there is damage on their sensor array from the previous battle that they have not yet been able to repair. The array is next to the tractor emitter. If the new cannons were installed, we could destroy their sensors and break free from the tractor beam allowing us to go into hyper jump."

Gideon had an idea. "I have a plan but there's no time to explain it."

"You've been through enough to know what you're doing. What do you need?" Dipper said.

Gideon pointed to the enemy ship. "Point the cargo bay doors at that array and I need a life patch! The rest I need to do myself in the cargo bay as soon as you see that thing blow jump us out of here!"

"Right!" Mabel said as she turned the ship. "Ixcia give him whatever help he needs that's an order!"

As Gideon got on the lift down to the cargo bay Soostron handed him a life patch. "Thanks friend." Gideon said as he slapped the patch on. "Ixcia lower the power loader but don't detach it!"

"Confirmed." Ixcia said as the loader came down.

Gideon climbed on and used the loader to grab Holar's fun box. "Thanks for one last gift guys." Gideon said. "Ixcia when I tell you to open the cargo bay door!"

Ixcia then said. "Gideon, I have extrapolated your plan. There is a 47.92% chance that you will be blown into space."

"I know don't pull me in until this thing blows. I won't lose any more friends!" Gideon lifted the crate above his head. "Now!" The door opened and while he was being blown out, he threw the crate.

On the Hand of Suprema one of the crewmen noticed something on the scanner. "Sir! Explosive decompression from the heretic's cargo bay! Two objects detected!"

Kondar wrinkled his small nose. "So, their last act defiance is to throw trash at us."

The crewman looked back to the screen. "Sir there is something written on the first object. Raiders Roll?"

As Gideon floated in the loader he pulled out his hexa-blaster. "This is for the Raiders!" As he fired his time with the Raider flashed in his mind. The last thing he saw before the box exploded was Chugar saying. _"You're my best friend."_

Alarms sound on the Imperium bridge. "Damage report!" Kondar ordered.

One of the crewmen reported. "Tractor beam has lost power. And our sensors are gone! We're completely blind!"

Kondar grabbed the hair on his forehead. "It can't be! An officer and strategist of my caliber, outwitted by children? Impossible!" With that last word he torn out his hair leaving a him only with hair on the back of his head.

The next thing Gideon knew he was looking up at Ixcia's avatar being projected from a set of robot hands hanging from a white ceiling. "Procedure complete. Recommend two days confinement to sickbay for observation and recovery." She said.

"Gideon you little dummy!" Mabel scolded. "Getting yourself blown out and back in reopened your wound!"

"It was the only way." Gideon couldn't look at the older girl.

"Ixcia display my personal star chart and update." Dipper ordered. The map of the galaxy wasn't anything Gideon hadn't seen before but this one had a lot of systems marked red. "Forty-nine. Forty-nine systems and two years we looked for you! We had to do some dirty dealings to find you! And when we do, we almost lose you! Do you realize how worried we were?"

"I'm sorry I couldn't lose you guys too!"

"Just don't scare us like that anymore." Mabel squeezed Gideon's hand.

Dipper reached up and slid the map to a blue area that looked like a crown. "This is the Azure Crown Cluster. Pacifica comes and goes to somewhere in that place with thousands of star systems and we are going to need your help to find her".

"Whatever you need me to do." Gideon said.

Mabel let go of Gideon and pointed straight up. "Right. Well first thing is you need to get better. Ixcia set a course for the nearest port on the way to the Azure Crown Cluster."

Thirteen years later,

"Crashes, brain washed assassins, giant war ships, that place in space you were at sounds like a death trap!" Bud said.

Darla was livid. "You're lucky to be home alive much less in one piece!"

"I had a lot of help." Gideon said as they heard a knock on the door.

The door opened and Mabel came in. "Hey Honey."

"Mabel my Angel." They took each other's hands and kissed. "What are doing here?"

"My parents want to meet you and your family." Mabel smiled.

"Mabel did you really marry our Gideon?" Bud asked.

Mabel gazed lovingly at her husband. "It took a few years for me to see what a wonderful and handsome man he's become."

Bud gave Mabel a bear hug. "Well welcome to the Gleefuls!"

As Bud let go Mabel saw Erika. "Oh hello."

Gideon made the introductions. "Mabel, this is Erika. The baby sister I didn't I know I had."

Erika growled at being called baby, but Mabel was excited. "Oh my gosh! Forget making a new sweater! My next arts and crafts project will be drawing a college of all the cute big brother little sister moments you two should have had!"

Erika was really getting annoyed. "Listen Mabel, right? We've just met so you wouldn't know this about me but Erika Gleeful doesn't do cute."

Erika's attitude was no match for the power of Mabel. "You're sassy. I like you."

"Mabel could be the answer to our prayers." Darla whispered to Bud.

"Gideon was just telling us how he met up with you again." Bud said.

Gideon looked at Mabel with his eyes full of memories. "Yeah, but a month after coming aboard I thought that I would never be good enough for you."

Mabel looked at Gideon like he was joking. "What? That was all me. You were the big hero that week."

Darla said. "Well that sounds like another story. My son saving the day again."

"Mom, Mabel's family is waiting for us." Gideon said hoping to avoid the awkward parts of the story.

Mabel attempted to reassure her husband. "We got time Gideon. Dipper needs to get Pacifica, he gave Grunkle Ford the scantrix to study, Mom and Dad are calling our other relatives, and Grunkle Stan well…"

If you were in the men's room of the Gravity Falls town hall at that moment and looked under one of the stalls you would see an old man's shoes and heard a loud snoring.

Mabel started with the story. "Well like we said it was almost a month after Gideon came aboard and unfortunately it was also time for my monthly visit from Aunt Flo…"

Thirteen years ago,

Gideon was making his way to the lavatory. "I shouldn't have drunk all that Apa tea." As he got in, he heard someone crying. "Mabel? Are you okay?"

The door to the toilet opened. Mabel looked very angry. "Gideon what are you doing here?! Are you trying to get a peek, you little perv?!"

Gideon was shocked. "No! It's not like that." Gideon blushed. "I just heard you crying. I thought I could help."

"It's none of your business! You think you can help me?! You're just a stupid little kid! Leave me alone!" Mabel stormed out.

Gideon was both hurt and confused. "I don't understand. What did I do?"

Half an hour later Gideon entered the bridge and sat at the engineering station. Dipper was at the helm. "Hey Gideon. That adjustment you made to the maneuvering thrusters yesterday made turning really smooth." Gideon didn't say anything. Then Mabel came in. She looked at Gideon and, in a huff, sat at tactical. "Mabel, I doubt that we're going to be attacked when we get to Panfrora. It's a neutral planet, we just need pick up some food and a few spare parts." Mabel still refused to say anything. "Good talk Mabel." Dipper said sarcastically.

The next day Dipper went to Gideon's door, his name painted in green. When Dipper rang the bell there wasn't an answer at first. "Come in." Gideon said. On the floor of the room was the set of weights Gideon brought with him but instead of working out he was tinkering with a piece of machinery, but he was barely working on it.

"Hey man, what cha working on?" Dipper asked.

"It's a new capacitor for the jet bike. Should increase acceleration." Gideon said.

"Gideon, I know something happened between you and Mabel yesterday, so you want to tell me what happened?"

Gideon gave a heavy sigh. "I heard her crying in the bathroom and when she came out, she yelled at me. She called me a perv and a stupid little kid! I was just trying to help. I thought I knew what Mabel was like, but it was like talking to a stranger! At least with machines if there's a problem you don't get yelled at if you try to fix it."

Dipper rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Right first off Gideon you need to knock or something you can't just walk in on a girl in the bathroom. We really need to make a sign to hang outside the door. Second it was good you wanted to help but there's nothing you can do about it. It's just that time of the month for her."

Gideon put down the capacitor looking confused. "Time of the month for what?"

Dipper looked at Gideon like he was joking. "You know, she's having her period."

The look on Gideon's face didn't change. "Dipper you're not making any sense."

Hearing that the color drained out of Dipper's face. "Didn't your parents tell you about puberty? About the changes as you grow up? The differences between boys and girls?" Now Dipper looked like he was about to panic.

Now Gideon was even more confused. "Not much. I have started getting pimples, you heard my voice crack, and I noticed hair growing where it wasn't before. I asked the other Raiders about what was happening to me once, but they all just said 'not it' and left the room."

Dipper slapped his forehead. "Oh man, why me…" Dipper took a deep breath trying to calm down. "Gideon it looks like it's fallen to me to tell you the facts of life. Ixcia could you back me up here please?"

The projection orb in the room turned on and Ixcia produced some diagrams of the human body. "My scans of all of you allow me to provide accurate data on your biological processes."

Dipper gulped. "Okay there is a lot to go over, but I guess the first thing you need to know is that Mabel now goes through something every month called a period and all women of our species goes through this. A lot of things go on in her body for about three days and it really affects her mood. She either cries and cries or she just gets mad at everything. And unfortunately for us men are usually the everything. You offered to help with something you didn't understand, nothing can be done for it. For both the girl and the guys around her the only option is to endure it. Like if we ran into an Ion Storm, the only thing any we can do is ride out. Yep, grab an Apa tea for three days and ride it out. I'm sure she didn't mean to hurt you. She doesn't know that you didn't know."

Gideon looked like he understood. "Wow, okay so we both misunderstood what was going on and this period made her madder at me then she normally might have been. But why does she have to through all this?"

Dipper took another deep breath and sighed. "Well the short answer is that it's because it means she's now able to have a baby."

"What? A baby?" Gideon started to panic.

Dipper placed his hands onto Gideon's shoulders. "Like I said there's more to it. And we are going talk about that now. Buckle up Gideon I'm going to tell about puberty; nature's way of saying she hates us all. It's time to say goodbye to your childhood." Two hours later Dipper stepped out of Gideon's room. "Okay now if you have any more questions or just need to talk about this kind of stuff just ask me alright?"

Gideon looked uneasy. "Yeah sure. But I have a lot to process. I think I just want to be alone right now." Gideon closed his door.

Dipper leaned against his own door and groaned. "That was not fun. Ixcia is Mabel in her room?"

"Affirmative." Ixcia said.

Dipper then chimed Mabel's room. "Mabel, I know you want to be alone right now, but we really need to talk about Gideon and what happened yesterday."

The door opened and Dipper saw Mabel was crying and hugging her Waddles plushie. "You're not on his side, are you? You boys are all alike."

Dipper came in and closed the door. "I'm not on any side here. This whole thing is a big messed up mistake because we were abducted. I just got through telling Gideon about the birds and the bees!"

"What? He didn't know?"

"No! His parents never told him and those aliens he lived with had no idea what to say to him, so I had to do it! I'm sixteen years old Mabel! I wasn't planning to give the talk to anyone for a good long time! It was so awkward!"

Mabel's crying got worse. "Poor Gideon! I was such a jerk! He must hate me now."

"He doesn't hate you Mabel. He understands that he made a mistake. But after you're done going through this one you need to sit down and talk with him. We're older so we have to be the adults here."

"I hate being the adult. But you're right. I'm sorry you had to be put in the middle of all this."

"It's okay. It's just one more sign of how messed up my life has become. I'm wanted for a crime that I know almost nothing about, I just found out someone turned Pacifica into the winner of the Miss Murder Pageant, and I just told someone who was once my enemy everything I know about sex! It isn't fair for any of us! I don't want to make you feel worse but after you get through this you should really sit down and talk with Gideon. It might help if he heard a female point of view on this."

"Alright, and Dipper thanks for putting up with me. And don't worry, I think only Grunkle Stan can give the talk without feeling awkward."

"No problem." Dipper turned to leave. "I'm going to double check on what supplies we need pick up on Panfrora tomorrow."

Mabel nervously rubbed her arms. "Not add to all the awkwardness of these past two days this but I hope we can pick up some feminine care products while we're there. I'm almost out." Dipper groaned as he left.

The next day they arrived on Panfrora. It was a world with one large ocean with countless islands no bigger than New Zealand. They looked down at this beautiful world feeling that maybe things were finally looking up. Little did they realize how wrong they were. "What are the people like here Ixcia?" Gideon asked.

"Two races call this their homeworld. The Aquafrora and Terrafrora. The mammalian Terrafrora live on the islands while the Aquafrora are amphibious and have several cities built under the ocean like the port we are going to land at." Ixcia explained.

"That sounds like a cool place to do some shopping. I'm taking us down." Dipper said as he made a turn at the helm.

They entered a clear tube on the surface and descended beneath the waves to a domed city. What they didn't see was that a ship that looked like a black orb with four scythe-like prongs followed them. As they went deeper, and deeper Mabel saw a group of green fish-like people swimming outside the tube. These were Aquafrora. "They remind me of Mer…Mermandooooooo!" Mabel began to cry.

"Who?" Gideon asked.

Dipper immediately replied. "I'll explain later."

After they landed, they were met by the dock master a Terrafrora woman who looked human except she had blue spots all over her skin. "Welcome. Your transmission said you needed to get spare parts and food supplies. I can give you directions to both a nearby parts store and a supermarket."

Mabel spoke first. "I'll go get the food and the things I need. You two go get those parts."

They nodded in agreement and went thier separate ways for now. The ship that followed them landed and six figures in yellow hooded robes stepped out.

"So, who is this Mermando?" Gideon asked.

Dipper looked up at the dome and the sea beyond. "Right. So, Mermando is a Merman that Mabel first met the summer we met you. As I recall at the time you and Grunkle Stan were having a dispute over one of the lounge chairs at the public pool."

Gideon giggled at the memory. "The look on Stan's face when he realized the chair was covered in glue is something I'll treasure forever."

"Yeah well, Mabel got a big crush him. She helped him get back to sea and he was her first kiss."

"Oh." Gideon said and then thought about something. "Dipper, has Mabel been on dates since she came to space?"

Dipper knew what this question meant. Gideon was still in love with his sister. "I'll tell you but don't get jealous. She's dated five guys in the past two years. Two of them just wanted a one-night stand that they never got, two more were ok but we had leave soon after, and the last would only go out with her if I came along with one his friends as a double date. Here's a tip. Never let a Nelox try to kiss you, they have three-inch fangs and they hurt. But back to Mabel she only went out with them because she wanted to do something fun. With us traveling so much she knows that there's not much of a chance for a long-term relationship."

"It doesn't matter much anyway." Gideon said glumly. "She was right. I'm am a just a stupid little kid and she is practically a woman now! She'll never want me. It's just like you and Wendy."

Dipper reeled for a second at what Gideon said but he remembered something. "Wendy was too old for me then and I accept that, and I moved on. If Wendy finds someone who makes her happy then I'll be happy for her. But after Mabel and I went back home to California a new couple moved into our neighborhood. They started dating when the guy was a senior in high school, and she was a sophomore in college, but they were happy. You are a teen now; you're growing and maturing. I told you to be someone worth loving, the rest is up her. I won't push Mabel to any choice, but I will support whatever choices she makes about her love life. If someday she decides you are the one who makes her happy then I won't stand in the way."

"But Dipper she's changed so much."

"Yes, she's taller and has curves. She has new needs and problems. But all the parts of her that I love about her as my sister, her humor, her friendliness, her positive attitude, those are all still there. And if those are the things that you fell in love with then what does it matter if she's changed?"

Gideon never thought Dipper would be this supportive. "You really think I that if I wait, I might still have a chance? You really wouldn't mind if she really liked me?"

"Her happiness is what matters to me. But if she does fall in love with you and you break her heart then I'm shoving my gauntlet down your windpipe." Dipper said in a hushed tone.

"And you would have every right. So yeah for now the thing to make me happy is seeing Mabel happy. It's like I kept telling myself since you two went back home. If it's meant to be then it will happen." Gideon said.

"Good now let's get those parts." Dipper said offering a high five, Gideon obliged.

In another part of the city bald portly terrafrora entered a building and was greeted by a by an elderly aquafrora. "Hello, Mr. Potwer what can the bank do for you today?"

"Well pay day's coming and you how I like to personally transfer to the employees in the office. I'll also need a little extra, The Mrs. and I are going to a charity ball tonight." As Mr. Potwer spoke, he didn't notice six robed figures enter behind him.

"Excuse me gentlemen you will have to speak with another member of our staff." The old fish woman said.

No one could see any features of five of the men but the one in front had long mandibles poking out of his hood. "The only thing I need anyone here to do is to get down on the floor." He said mandibles clicking after he spoke. In that instant he touched a controller he held and the robes of the other five fell away revealing five black combat droids each with a plasma cannon for one arm. The droids aimed straight up and fired sending the whole bank to their knees.

"Listen don't hurt anyone. There is no need to rob this place. I am a very rich man and can pay you whatever you want if let everyone go." Mr. Potwer pleaded.

Crix looked down at the man. "I don't want your money. I have what I need." After some more clicking Crix turned to elderly teller. "You! Hit the alarm now!" Crix demanded.

Back at the dock the crew of the Ixcia were loading up their purchases onto the ship. "So, Mabel did you find what you needed?" Dipper asked.

Mabel had a grumpy look on her face. "Yeah, I got enough to last me for months, but those prices were outrageous! Five Centaquan for one lousy box?"

"Well as soon as we get these aboard, we'll see if we can find any jobs that take us closer to the Azure Crown Cluster."

"Couldn't we stay a little a longer?" Gideon asked. "This is the nicest place I've been to in years and I'm sure Mabel could find something fun for us to do here."

"I wish we could Gideon." Dipper said. "But getting all this stuff really hit our wallet hard. We've been traveling for a month with no jobs. We need the work." Dipper then whispered to Gideon so the dock master couldn't hear. "Also, we can't stay in one place too long or a bounty hunter or the Imps could find us. I don't want to make this world a target for them."

"That should be the last of your supplies loaded onto your ship. You can leave at any time." The dock master said.

"I afraid I can't let them do that Davaria." A tall aquafrora man in grey body armor. "I am Pulba captain of the local police precinct."

Dipper was quick to defend them all. "We didn't break any laws and we scanned everything we just brought aboard so there shouldn't be nothing illegal."

"I am not accusing you of anything in fact we need your help. Ten minutes ago, a man and five combat droids attacked the bank on Coral Street and have taken several hostages. He says he will only negotiate with Dipper and Mable Pines of the Ixcia and that you must remain in his line of sight outside the bank."

Davaria looked scared. "Coral Street? My husband works at that bank!"

Pulba continued to speak. "I need you all to come with me."

"Of course, we'll help." Mabel said.

"I'm going too!" Davaria said.

They arrived at the command post the police made outside of the bank. Ships of the police and local news were all over the place. "Alright they're here now." Pulba said to another aquafrora officer. "Call the suspect." A nearby monitor was turned on.

On the screen Crix a, combat droid and a terrafrora man appeared. "Please, I have a wife." The man begged.

"And if you want to live to see her lay you a clutch of eggs, you'll tell them my demands!" Crix shouted. He pushed a few buttons on the controller and the droid pointed its cannon right at his head.

"Arvon! Davaria screamed.

Arvon spoke. "Dipper and Mabel Pines, our captor will release us if you transfer the command codes of your ship to him. He also demands safe passage out of this system on that ship."

Crix turned the camera to his face. "The two of you have twenty minutes to complete the transfer. Unless of course you don't care about the hostages." The screen went to staic.

"I can't believe it's Crix." Mabel said.

"You two know that oversized cockroach?' Gideon asked.

Dipper answered. "We met him two years ago. He wanted to buy Ixcia from us. Since then we've seen him from time to time sulking close to Ixcia each time."

Mabel added. "And now he wants Ixcia in exchange for the hostages. We just learned she is a rare ship. Is he some crazy obsessed collector?"

"Who cares?!" Davaria said. "Just give him your ship! It's not worth my husband's life!"

"Ixcia is more than just a ship!" Dipper argued. "She is a sapient A.I. and our friend and I don't want to put her into the claws of someone who would do something like this!"

"Wait a minute." Gideon said. "Crix only talked about the two of you. He must have no idea I joined the crew so he's not watching me. He's was controlling the droids by remote. I can easily build a jammer that would disable them. But I have to get close to use it."

"Not likely." Pulba said. "Look at the bank." He pulled out a tablet with the street layout and floor plans of the building. "He can see out to the street, no rear access, and the skylight will let him know if anyone coming in from above."

Dipper look around at all the buildings then at Pulba and Davaria. "Your peoples, they used war with each other, didn't they?"

"That's all ancient history! What does that have to do with this?" Davaria asked.

"It shaped the people who built this city. People who would fear an attack from the surface. People who focus all their defenses upward… not look below them!"

"I think I see what you're talking about." Pulba said. He swiped the tablet to show below street level. "Your right the sewer is right next to an old vault from back when the bank handled physical currency and the door can open from the inside to the sever room. Wait, it won't work, the vault wall will take too long cut with lasers."

"What if we just blow a hole into it?" Gideon asked.

"But if he hears an explosion, he'll have the hostages shot!" Mabel said.

"Not if I use a subsonic detonator. Grual used one to break into an Imp barracks and he made it out of parts of our vibrational cleaner. He showed me how to do it. I can make it and the jammer with the spare parts we got."

"How long do you need?" Dipper asked.

"If Soostron rushes the parts here I can build them and be inside that bank in twenty-five, thirty minutes at most."

"We don't have that kind of time." Pulba said.

"We need to buy more time." Dipper thought as hard as he could. "Wait a second he thought you would lay eggs!" Dipper pointed to Davaria.

"Well my people don't." she said.

"Exactly! Crix seems to be very good with robots but he seems to have no idea about alien anatomy! And that would include us! Mabel! Remember your big scene in our fourth-grade school play?"

For the first time in three days Mabel smiled. "Oh yeah, I think I know what you're planning Bro-Bro. Gideon you call Ixcia and get working on what you need, Dipper and I will try to buy you as much time as we can."

In the bank Crix was running out of patience. He paced around the room. "Time is almost up." He then heard a beeping on his tablet. "Finally!" Dipper appeared on the screen. "Good, now give me the command codes!"

"I can't!" Dipper said. "The codes are spilt between me and Mabel!"

"So, she needs to give hers too!"

"She can't! Her condition makes her too delirious to use it! Don't you realize that doing is going to keep you from your goal? Do you have no idea why we came to this planet? My sister is sick and if we don't get her to Doctor Medicine soon, she will die!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Auntie Em is that you?" Mabel said feigning delirium.

Dipper continued. "My sister has Plasma Meltdown Syndrome or P.M.S. and if she doesn't have an operation in the next few hours she will die, and you will lose her half of the code forever!"

"This must be a trick! I never heard of this P.M.S." Crix was getting angry.

"I'm not surprised it's from our native galaxy. Once I tell you what it is doing to her, you'll know why twenty minutes is too short a time to get what you want."

Meanwhile in the nearby sewer Gideon just finish putting the jammer together and was now working on the detonator. "Heavens to Betsy this place stinks! I just hope the twins are convincing."

Back at the street Dipper and Mabel continued their ruse. "So, you see her body is literally pouring the life out of itself. Please Crix! Don't kill the hostages because of my sister's suffering!"

"I see the tunnel! Grunkle Stan I'm coming home!" Mabel said.

"No Mabel! Don't go into the light!" Dipper cried.

Crix didn't know what to think. It had to be a trick, but the way Dipper talked, it didn't seem like a disease he made up just a few minutes ago. But if the girl dies, he would lose everything he was working toward. He had to be sure but how? He then had an idea. He pointed to a group of the hostages. "All of you! Move over there!" He used his controller to have four of the droids lock their weapons on the hostages. Crix then looked at his tablet. "I am going to send one of my droids outside to see these so-called symptoms for myself live. If it looks like the droid is being attacked or tampered with the others will shot the hostages! And the same goes if I don't see exactly what you described!"

Dipper looked at Mabel not sure what do. She gave a nod. "All right." Dipper said. The droid came out the doors as Mabel got ready. _"These people better throw us a parade or something for this."_ Mabel thought.

Gideon placed the subsonic detonator on the vault wall and pressed a few buttons and stepped far back. It made a muffled sound and exploded quietly. "Thank you Grual." Gideon climbed a ladder to the vault door and like the police captain said it was easy to open from the inside. He climbed up to the server room.

Gideon crack opened the and heard the voice of Crix from the other side. "Screeeeeek! Disgusting! That is most the horrible thing I've ever seen! Alright get this Doctor Medicine and tell him that if she dies the hostages die!" Crix then threw the tablet down and stomped it into pieces out disgust at what he had seen.

Gideon came into the room, the droids targeted him but with the press of one button they all went limp and unmoving. Gideon pointed his gun at Crix. "Oh, I'm sorry Crix did I break your toys?" Gideon kept his eyes on Crix while he spoke to the hostages. "Get out of here! There was no argument as they ran out of the bank.

"But it couldn't be a trick! What I saw was real! This P.M.S." Crix said looking confused.

"I don't know what you saw and I don't want to. Everything Dipper told you was the truth except for one small detail. It's completely normal and harmless. Just something our women go through. You lost because you know nothing about human anatomy."

"And you know nothing about mine." Crix opened his mouth and out came a brown fluid that hit Gideon in the face.

"My eyes! I can see!" Gideon yelled as they felt like they were burning. He felt Crix push him down as he ran past him down into the sewers.

A short time later Dipper was scanning Gideon. "There is no need for alarm." Ixcia said through the scantrix. "The blindness is only temporary, and Gideon's eyesight should return in a maximum of one hour."

"Well that's good news at least." Dipper said.

Mr. Potwer and Pulba walked up to the humans. "I want to thank you all for what you did today." Mr. Potwer said.

"He is a very wealthy man. His family owns the company that invented algae bars." Pulba said.

"How does a lifetime supply sound to you? We can make regular deliveries." Mr. Potwer asked.

Dipper held up his hands. "We can't accept that for two reasons first it would put your employees in danger. We're wanted by the Imperium for heresy."

Potwer looked shocked. "Oh, well then no deliveries in Imperium space. But you did say there were two reasons."

Mabel answered this time. "We can't stand the taste. We only eat them if we have to."

Mr. Potwer looked embarrassed. "I have heard that some species feel that way while aquafrora love them. However, when my family first made the bars we only focused on nutrition since my people lack taste buds."

"Well that explains a lot." Dipper said turning to Pulba. "Did you find Crix?"

"Unfortunately, no. We are combing the sewers but are sure…" Before Pulba could finish the black ship flew right over them.

"You may have evaded me for now, but I will get your ship!" Crix said on load speakers before flying out of the city.

"Great one more guy who will keep hunting us." Dipper said.

Mabel took Gideon's hand. "Gideon, I want to apologize for how I treated you the past couple of days. I shouldn't have yelled at you. You put yourself on the line today and could have been hurt much worse than this. You deserve better."

Gideon squeezed Mabel's hand back. "I should have waited outside the lavatory when I knew someone was in there. I can guess what you had to show Crix and it must have been humiliating. I get why you were mad."

"Still we need to figure out how to keep this from happening again. And Dipper wants us to talk about what he taught you, so you see it from a girl's point of view after this whole thing is done."

Gideon looked a little nervous. "I thought I was getting used to it. But…"

Mabel gave Gideon a pat on the back. "Yeah well, it's going to awkward for both of us. But for right now I want you to know I am proud of and you are still my friend but for those three day of the month I probably won't stand you."

"Understood. Since it's not over after we get back to the ship, I'll see you tomorrow." Gideon said with a smile.

Thirteen years later,

"Well that was certainly an adventure in growing up." Darla said blushing.

Bud gave a sigh of relief. "I just want to say that I am grateful to your brother Mabel. I was not looking forward to giving Gideon the talk. Nothing against you son, I just have a hard time talking about anything intimate with anyone other than your mother. I was planning on telling you when we found out Erika was on the way. But then the next day came and…"

"Dad if there's is one thing I know, it's things don't always go according to plan." Gideon said.

"All I can say is I could have gone without all the talk about your period Mabel." Erika snapped who then covered her face.

Mabel took Erika's hands and looked her in the eye. "The whole point of that story was to A, show you how smart and brave your brother is and B, show that Dipper became like a big brother to Gideon before we even dated. Don't you see? You got two awesome big brothers for the price of one!"

"And that price seems to be an annoyingly nice sister in law." Erika huffed.

Gideon slammed his fist on the desk in the room. "That's enough! Erika I've been very patient with your attitude because we've just met and this whole thing must be a big shock, but I will never have anyone speak to my wife like that even if you're my sister! If it weren't for Mabel's kindness and creativity, we never would have found our first lead to finding Pacifica!"

"Gideon, it's okay. I know not everyone finds my enthusiasm charming." Mabel said.

"Still I think she needs to hear this." Gideon said. "It all started during an event Mabel and Dipper's lives that I was glad to witness.

Twelve years ago,

Dipper, Mabel, and Gideon were sitting in the common area each with a tablet taking tests. Dipper and Mabel were seventeen while Gideon was fourteen and had another growth spurt and bigger muscles. "…and done." Dipper said.

Mabel put tablet down. "Same here."

While Gideon worked on his assignment Ixcia evaluated Dipper and Mabel's test. "Congratulations, Mabel, Dipper you have both scored 100%. You have officially completed the standard education for beings in this galaxy. In human terms you have just graduated."

"Wow, I can hardly believe it." Mabel said.

"That's great!" Gideon said.

"Thank you, Gideon. And thank you too Ixcia, you have been a great teacher."

"It has been gratifying, providing your education and watching your progress. And I am certain to continue to do so with Gideon who has scored an 87%." Ixcia responded.

"Guess there's still room for improvement." Gideon said with a smile. "Then again chemistry isn't my best subject. The only chemical reactions the Raiders thought I needed to know about were the explosive kind."

"After this job we should do something to celebrate!' Mabel then noticed Dipper hadn't said anything. She looked to see Dipper was shedding tears. "Dipper why are you crying?"

Dipper wiped away his tears. "Sorry it's just you know I had an image of this day. You and me in caps and gowns, and in the audience would be Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Grandma, Stan, and Ford."

"Yeah, they should have seen us graduate." Mabel said sadly. She then perked right back up. "But you know you just have to imagine it and it will be like we're are all there. It's magic just like this." Mabel did a magic trick and made it look like a spare computer chip was pulled out of Dippers ear.

"Grandpa taught you that. Yes, I can see them." He remembered how Grandpa Sherman loved to show them magic tricks when they were little. Dipper continued. "And when I think about that I also find myself thinking about how Pacifica is our age how she should be back home on earth graduating herself. Instead she's been brainwashed and could be out there right now being forced to kill someone! We don't know how to find her or even if the brainwashing can be undone!"

Mabel hugged Dipper. "We are going to find her and get her back Dipper. On come, Pacifica would want us to be happy right now."

"I'll try but it would be easier if we weren't heading to one of the few systems in the Azure Crown that the Imperium controls."

Gideon stood up. "Don't worry Dipper, Mabel has a plan."

"Remember the terrafrora we met last year?" Mabel picked up the spectral painter.

They later landed on the planet Rin-Tou, a world with jungles growing right next to Imperium built cities. With their disguises in place their cargo was inspected without incident. As the inspection crew left Gideon started scratching the spots Mabel painted on him. "Quit that!" Dipper said his birthmark painted.

Gideon gave two more scratches. "It just itches a lot."

"That's because the paint was not meant to be used on skin. Just be glad it comes off in the vibra-cleaner. The important thing is that no one suspects us, Mabel get the item."

Mabel went to one of the walls of the cargo bay and pushed it, sliding a panel to the side. Over the years Mabel and Dipper kept finding compartments like this. Obviously Darnak used them for smuggling. Mabel pulled out a small box. "You are going to make someone very happy." Mabel said to the box.

The group made their way to a small square at the edge of the city. They sat down at a café and ordered some apa tea. After waiting five minutes an old grey furred man-sized monkey wearing blue robes with a staff sat with them. "Do have what you promised?" he asked.

Mabel smiled. "As we agreed Mr. Huo-Huo but I still think five kiloquan is too much." Mabel opened the box reveling a tattered old book.

"For the risks you must have taken to return my grandmother's holy book to me, nonsense!" Huo-Huo said as he took out his quan disk.

"That collector was more than willing to give it to us because he wanted something else more, love. So, we got your precious keepsake back to you and I got to make two people happy with my match making skills." The transfer was complete.

"Oh, it far more than a keepsake. This is the last remaining copy of our holy text. Since the Imperium came when I was a small child, they gave us knowledge that advanced us thousands of years in decades but in the process my people have forgotten who we are. This will help remind them."

"Does this mean you are going to organize a resistance movement?" Dipper asked.

"Violence is not our way. My hope is that we can convince the Imperium that there is room for our faith as well as faith in the Empress."

"I highly doubt that." As Dipper said those words many centurions entered the square surrounding a fat snail like man with a shell too small for him. Dipper got a good look at one centurion right next to the slug. "Mabel look away!"

"What is it Dipper?" Mabel asked.

"I can't believe! It's Buckgis, the first Imp who tried to arrest us!"

"Really? Gideon asked.

Mabel took a quick peek. She saw Buckgis was talking to the snail and that the tooth Dipper knocked out of his mouth was replaced with a gold one. "It's him all right but we should be fine. We've grown a lot since then and we're in disguise. Who is the big guy next to him?"

"That is the governor of this whole system." Hou-Hou said.

The conversation between the two grew heated. "Don't you think pulling so many centurions from their normal duties is a little excessive?" Buckgis asked.

The Governor's eye stalks stretched over the large rock man. "Of course not! There have been four attempts on my life in two weeks! Until the assassin is caught you and these men will provide me protection twenty-five hours a day!"

As they talked Mabel noticed someone run along the rooftops. A brown furred man like Hou-Hou wearing a black jumpsuit and a black monstrous mask. He leapt from the roof and pulled out a large shamateur ready to strike. "Lookout!" She screamed.

Buckgis deployed his shield just in time saving the governor's life. Buckgis the swung his taser stick at the man missing. "Surrender!" Buckgis ordered.

Th assassin took a swing at Buckgis. "Those who get in the way of the…assignment must be eliminated!" Buckgis blocked the sword but the top part of his shield was cut clean off. The other centurions tried to fight but were either knocked out or killed.

"Stop this!" Hou-Hou pleaded with the young member of his race. "Killing is not our way!"

"Obedience is everything!" The black clad monkey raised his weapon. Before the assassin could bring his sword down on the old man Dipper tackled him and knocked off the mask.

As the young monkey got up the old priest was shocked to see a small scar on his lip. "Hok-Hok? Is that you?"

"Grandfather…no…must…finish…my mission! Must return to…Shadow Cradle." The young simian struggled to say.

"You!" Buckgis recognized Dipper. "You may have changed but I can tell it's you heretic! I owe you for the tooth!"

"So much for a low profile." Dipper said. While this was happening Hok-Hok fired a grappling dart from his wrist and zipped up to the rooftops escaping.

"No! Hok-Hok come back!" Huo-Huo shouted to his grandson.

"We got to go now!" Gideon said turning on his rocket pack.

"I know a place in the jungle." Huo-Huo said.

"Ixcia rendezvous with us once we provide coordinates!" Dipper grabbed Huo-Huo and flew off with his boosters while Mabel fired her grappling hook into the nearby jungle zipping off with the others.

"After them!" Buckgis ordered.

"No! You must catch the assassin!" the governor said.

Later Ixcia landed in a crumbling village in the jungle. "I do not understand how my grandson could do something like this." Huo-Huo said.

"When was the last time you saw your grandson?" Mabel asked.

"Eleven years ago. He was only six when he was taken, and his parents killed. We are the only family we have left."

Dipper thought for a moment. "The way he was talking…he said obedience was everything! Those were the exact same words Pacifica said to us last year! Your grandson was taken by the Felggur!"

"And you stopped him from killing that fat slug!" the voice came from an orange furred monkey girl who was hanging from the trees by her tail who leapt down.

"Kemu-Kemu! You hired an assassin?" Huo-Huo scolded.

"That man's taxes are bleeding our people dry!" The girl said. "It's a better use of what little money we have then getting some musty old book back!"

"Killing is not our way! You may not be the one doing it yourself but paying another to do it for you is no different!"

Kemu-Kemu hung her head in shame. "I had no idea the Felggur would send your grandson."

Mabel got between Huo-Huo and Kemu-Kemu. "I know this seems bad, but this could be a good thing for all of us."

"How?" Huo-Huo asked.

"If we catch Hok-Hok not only can we reunite your family, but he might be able to tell more about the Felgurr, maybe even where their hideout is."

"Do you really think we can break through that brainwashing they did to him?" Dipper asked.

Gideon answered. "It might be easier than we thought."

"What do you mean?"

Gideon thought back. "During the fight Hok-Hok was struggling with his words and even hesitated when his grandfather recognized him. The governor said Hok-Hok had been trying to kill him for two weeks."

"I did give them the job two weeks ago." Kemu-Kemu said.

"Right and Hok-Hok said he had to return to something he called the Shadow Cradle, so what if this brainwashing the Felggur have has to be reapplied every two weeks or so. If that's the case, then that means we just have to hold him until the whole thing just wears off."

"If it does then the same thing will work for Pacifica!" Dipper jumped for joy.

Kemu-Kemu held up her hand. "Even if you do get him the Imps won't stop until Hok-Hok and you are dead."

"Or think we're all dead. Like how everyone thought Grunkle Stan was dead." Mabel said, a plan forming in her head.

"So, you want to fake his death and ours. How do you think we can do this? Dipper asked.

"It's like Grandpa Shermy always said. Magic is all about getting people to look at what you want them to see and away from what you don't. Gideon we are going have to rely on you to make this all work and hope Hok-Hok's next attack somewhere that can make this convincing."

The three humans soon had a plan and were following the governor. As he and his security detail began to cross one of the bridges in the city Dipper spoke on the coms. "Okay everyone this could be it, our first chance to get real information on the Felggur."

Gideon switched to a private channel. "Mabel, I know we all want Pacifica back, but does Dipper seem to get more emotional about the subject?"

Mabel answered on the same channel. "Dipper will deny it, but I think it's because he was starting to fall in love her, he may even still love her. The thing is, I think she was falling for him too. I saw things with the two of them, lines Dipper tried to hide in his journal, a text Pacifica thought she was sending to Dipper, but I got it by mistake. This whole abduction may have been bad, but it could give them the chance to realize their feelings. That's my hope anyway. But we better be ready."

As they switched back to the regular frequency, they heard Dipper say. "Here he comes, Mabel let's give them a good show and keep the Governor alive. Hok-Hok doesn't need another death on his conscience. Gideon wait until Ixcia is in position. Allright let's do this!"

Hok-Hok jumped up from under the bridge face to face with Buckgis. "This is the end for you assassin!" Buckgis said as he swung his weapon.

However, Dipper stopped him by grabbing his Buckgis wrist an began to wrestle with him. "Stop! He's been with the Felggur since he was a kid! They messed with his head! He can't be held accountable for his actions!"

Buckgis pushed back. "And why would a heretic like you care about him?"

"My friend was sold to the Felggur when we were abducted, if I can save him then I can save her! Not only that he has family who misses him!"

"If this friend is one of your kind then she is a heretic as well as a murderer and will get what she deserves!" Buckgis kicked Dipper but there was still fight in him. He was not the boy he was three years ago; he would do what he had to save Pacifica.

Hok-Hok was closing in on the governor. "Please! I'll pay you anything! I have more money than the Imperium knows!" The snail begged.

"I must complete my assignment! The Laws of the Felggur must be obeyed!" Hok-Hok- said Ready for a killing blow.

"Not so fast!" Gideon said shooting a line between Hok-Hok and his target.

The next thing Hok-Hok knew a hook and cable attached to his sword. "You don't have to do this Hok-Hok!" Mabel said. "You can come home to your grandpa! He loves you!"

"I must obey the laws of the Felggur!" Hook tried to pull his sword free. "Obedience is everything!"

"No, it's not! Family and love are! You're just repeating what they want you to be!" Mabel cried. "Your people are people of peace! Don't let the Felggur destroy that part of you! Fight back!"

"I want to but…I'm…not sure…I can!" Hok-Hok was struggling.

Dipper and Buckgis continued to struggle. "You see that? You people are supposed to be all about justice and order! Where is the justice in punishing a victim? Where is the justice in denying his grandfather the one person to make his life whole again? What is justice to you?" Buckgis said nothing and kept fighting Dipper shot at Buckgis' shield and flew to Mabel who pulled Hok-Hok close.

While all this was going on the other centurions shot at Gideon. "I'm hit!" Gideon's flight pattern became erratic. Two of his grenades fell from him. "My grenades!"

There was a huge explosion and part of the bridge was destroyed. "Well Sargent. It looks like four criminals have faced justice today." The governor said smugly.

"Make that five." Buckgis said as he cuffed the governor.

"What is the meaning of this outrage!"

"I heard you try to bribe that man. To me that sounded like a confession to the rumor that you've been over taxing this system and keeping the extra for yourself! No wonder someone sent an assassin after you! Take him away!" As the former governor was taken away all Buckgis could think about were the last words Dipper said to him. _"What is justice to you?"_ Buckgis couldn't believe he was being shaken so much by the words of a heretic.

Unknown the centurions the four that jumped or flew of the bridge at the moment of the explosion and landed in Ixcia's cargo bay. They were so distracted by the explosion they never noticed to ship fly under them cloak and go back to the jungle. "How is my grandson?" Huo-Huo asked.

"He put up a fight but he's unharmed." Mabel said as Hok-Hok screamed.

"I…the fog…it is lifted!" Hok-Hok said happily. "I am free!

Hou-Hou hugged his grandson. "Thank the ancestors! And thank all of you."

"We were glad to do it." Dipper said. "Hok-Hok is there anything you remember about where the Shadow Cradle is or anything else about the Felggur? We need to save out friend from them too."

Hok-Hok thought. "The cradle is the machine they use to control us. I never learned where we were trained. We used a chain of cargo ships to transfer supplies and members to and from the base. I can tell you where I was supposed to go from here to get to the chain but to those not trained to follow it, it would take a long time to travel it."

"Well now that the imps think we're dead we got plenty of time to do just that." Mabel said.

"Good, I know of one of your kind in the Felggur, she must be the friend you wish to save. I can tell you about what we went through but it won't be pleasant. Just call me when you find where they are. I want to help."

"No! Hok-Hok if you join them you may have to kill again! It is not our way." Huo-Huo pleaded.

"Is it not written in the old religion that we must help who we can Grandfather? How can I turn my back on the suffering of others that I myself went through?"

Huo-Huo sighed. "You are right. But until then stay with me and read you great grandmother's sacred book and help me restore our faith to our people."

"Of course." Hok-Hok went to describe the chain of ships, how he was raised and educated by the Felggur, and most of all what the brainwashing was like. That part made the three humans ill knowing that their friend was still going through that every two weeks.

They got back on their ship and began the long process of finding Pacifica. "Well Dipper, we got a plan now." Mabel said.

"Mabel, I'm not sure I can be happy until we destroy this…thing that has sunk it's claws into Pacifica. It takes innocent lives and twists them to kill anyone so long as the price is right. We can't just save her but everyone under the Felggur's control."

"Just so long as you don't lose yourself while doing it. I don't think Pacifica would forgive any of us if we let that happen. We are going to find her and then we can finally go home."

Twelve years later,

"If it weren't for Mabel doing a nice thing for one old man or her idea for a magic trick, we never would have found the chain of cargo ships." Gideon said.

Erika was silent for a moment. "This whole thing has shown me one thing. I have the coolest, most badass big brother I could have hoped for!" Erika gave a rock and roll sign. "You fought a ton of enemy soldiers alone in the dark to try and save your friend, you stared down a giant warship with nothing but a box full of bombs and an alien forklift, you saved a bunch of people from killer robots, and you flew within a hair of a giant explosion! I think you're my new hero!

Everyone else in the room was shocked except for Mabel. "We'll that's just what I hoped you would realize."

"Gideon you got to show me how to fly with that jet pack of yours, or better yet how to fly your ship! Can you imagine what kind of stunts I can do with those?"

Bud decided to ironically nip this in the bud. "Erika Grace Gleeful! You are too young for a learner's permit for a car in this state. I am not letting you behind the wheel of an alien spaceship! Your brother can take you flying but you will not get behind the controls!"

"Fine." Erika huffed.

"We better get going." Mabel said. "The others are waiting for us all."

"And I want to introduce Dipper and Paz to my little sister." Gideon said with a smile.

"Well if they are as half as cool as the two of you then I'm going to like them." Erika said.

As the other members of the Gleeful family left Gideon held his hand to his wife. "Ready my Queen?"

Mabel took her husbands hand. "Yes, my Punwidge."


	6. Family Reuion: Pacifica

Chapter 6

Family Reunion: Pacifica

Pacifica and Robbie came down to another office. "Well here they are." Robbie said.

"Yeah." Pacifica took a deep breath and lowered her visor. She saw two heat signatures in the room. "They are here."

Robbie pulled the visor back to the previous position on Pacifica's head. "Since we told you that we got your families here you've been as nervous as my college roommate was during finals week. I know things with your parents were not great, but it's been fifteen years. I'm sure they are just as nervous as you are."

Pacifica looked Robbie in the eye. "Thank you. I am normally don't scare easy, but with everything that happened to me out there I don't know how they are going to feel about it. The truth is that while when I last saw them, I yelled at them, but years later I realized I missed them. But putting it off is not going to make this easier. I'm going to be fine; Robbie go give your wife a call. Like, you had to drop everything to come down and help us and we all are grateful for that."

Robbie gave a smile as he walked away. "I'm glad I could help."

Pacifica turned to the door and felt her heart begin to beat faster. She put her hands on her chest and took a few slow deep breaths. "I am in control of me. I am in control of me." Pacifica slowly took hold of the doorknob and turned it. Inside office she saw her parents. Preston's hair had turned white with age and Priscilla had her greying hair done in a bun, like she didn't care how old see looked anymore.

The room was quiet for a second. Then Priscilla ran right to her daughter and tried to hug her. "Pacifica, we are so sorry!" Priscilla cried.

"Wait!" Pacifica yelled. Pacifica then lowered her voice. "You need to come to me slowly. Out there my reflexes were conditioned to be very sensitive and I don't want to hurt you!" Her parents nodded and Priscilla slowly hugged her daughter.

Preston walked up to them with an ashamed look on his face. "You were right. We looked up and the one we valued most was gone. It took you vanishing for me to see that you were and are the most important thing in our lives."

"Dad, Mom…" Pacifica was not expecting this.

Priscilla continued to cry. "In trying to make you live up to our family name we forgot that you were our miracle. That it was so hard us to get pregnant and we had you late in our lives. We were so happy when you were born, and we wanted you to succeed so badly that we lost sight of your happiness."

"And that our behavior could have been leading you down the wrong path." Preston said. "I spent a good deal of Northwest Industries funds to hire private investigators all over the world for three years before the board forced me to stop. They said that I was spending company money trying to find a girl who ran away from home, who didn't want to be found and I couldn't say for certain that they were wrong."

Priscilla let go. "Around the same time, I was arrested for a drunken disorderly. After you vanished the only thing that seemed to make the pain go away was drinking. I stopped caring how I looked, what my behavior did to your father or our families' reputation. I mean I was only fooling myself with my looks, inside I was an empty broken doll. I kept drinking for three years after that first arrest and almost got myself killed in a car accident when I thought I could drive myself to get more wine. After that you father sent me to rehab saying that he couldn't bear to lose me too. After I got out, I joined A.A. and I haven't had a hard drink for nine years now, but it is still a struggle."

Preston sighed. "I couldn't care about our reputation either. Work had lost all meaning to me and except for taking money to find you I barely did anything with the company anymore and the board of directors noticed. The year before I sent your mother to rehab without a firm grip on the company and no heir to take over the board voted that I would step down as CEO and the company went public. I am only the second largest shareholder now Northwest Industries belongs to someone else now. But it doesn't matter, you were right all along. Without you none of it, our family name, the wealth, the power, it became meaningless!"

"Now that you are back, we can be a family again and do right this time." Pricilla smiled.

Preston took his wife's hand. "Yes, Pacifica you were always the best of the Northwest's. We see that now."

Pacifica couldn't believe what she was hearing, her parent's lives were almost ruined but all they wanted now was to be her family again. "No, no you're wrong!"

"Pacifica please! We love you. We never should have pushed to be who we wanted you be." Preston said not understanding.

"I am not an angel!" Pacifica screamed crying. "You say I'm the best of the Northwest's, but I might be the worst! Remember what you told me about Westly Northwest? That he killed six people with that fire he started? I have well gone over that body count. Your daughter is a murderer! Some even call me a monster and there was nothing I could do to stop it!" Pacifica dropped to her knees and looked like she was having a panic attack. She put her hands against her chest and tried to breath. "I am in control of me. I am in control of me. I am in control of me!"

Pacifica's parents were shocked and confused by what their daughter said. "I don't understand. Sweetheart what happened?" Priscilla asked.

After repeating her mantra a few more times Pacifica calmed down but continued to cry. "After we were all taken, we were sold as slaves and separated. The others were lucky. Dipper and Mabel escaped; Gideon found his way to people who grew to care about him. But for me, I was someone's possession, a tool for him to use and what he did to me and made me do can never be completely undone. I spent four years in hell."

Fifteen years ago,

Pacifica woke up in a dark ship. She had hoped it was all a nightmare, but the nightmare had only just begun. She tried to sit up, but she could only lift her head. "What? Why can't I move?" Pacifica said panicking.

"I administered a paralytic before waking you subject RS-225." It was the masked blue snake man.

"My name is Pacifica Northwest!"

The man didn't seem to care. "That name is from a life that is now over and very soon you shall be reborn if you survive."

Pacifica really did not like the sound of that. "Listen my parents are very wealthy. They can give you more than what you paid for me! They can get anything on my planet you want!"

"But I already have what I want. You RS-225. I have scanned you and you will be an excellent addition once you are properly conditioned. From this moment onward you shall address me as Dr. Slivix, for all intents and purposes your new father."

"No! I have a dad! He may not be the best but…" Pacifica heard a loud thud.

"We have arrived at your new home. Soon we shall begin." Slivix said as he picked Pacifica up. He slithered from the ship that took off to a field filled with green glowing mushrooms and with a very old looking ruins going underground. This place was dark, but it was daytime Pacifica could see a small red sun surrounded by a large cloud.

As they began to descend, she saw many different aliens all dressed in black. "Help me! This creep kidnaped me!" Pacifica screamed. The black clad people did nothing like they didn't even notice. "Listen you goths, stop being all dark and depressed and help me!"

"Your new brothers and sisters are conditioned well and will not act against our laws. Soon you will be like them." Slivix said as they came upon two figures in purple robes like Slivix. "Jomi I see that you have found someone to fill the empty seat in the Diagia."

Jomi was a tall pale green woman with a small third arm coming out of her stomach and a very long neck. Her hair was long and black. "Yes Doctor, this is the newest member of Night Circle, Gofmo." She pointed her third arm to the round pink man with holes in his head and arms that expelled a gas that smelled like old cheese.

"She just showed me the renewal ceremony. Very impressive." Gofmo said.

"Then you are in luck. I was just about to begin the rebirth process on RS-225. It will be quite informative. Once the process is complete she will only need for it to be renewed every two weeks." Slivix said.

"Isn't she a little old for the process? I thought we started them much younger." Gofmo asked letting out a larger burst of gas.

"Dr. Slivix has been using the ancient machinery for sixty years. He is an expert at spotting talented recruits." Jomi said.

They followed Slivix into another chamber with a black chair under a blue glowing pyramid that was pointing down. "She has already had some slight physical conditioning and my scans show she was even subjected to a primitive form of mental training. She will be easily made to be obedient."

"_The bell!"_ Pacifica thought as she was placed in the chair and her arms and legs were restrained. "No! Let me go! You can't do this to me!"

"She seems quite defiant." Gofmo said sounding unimpressed.

"Most subjects are at first." Jomi said bending her neck down to look Pacifica in the eye as she blindfolded her.

"The paralytic I gave her should wear off before we are done. The first rebirth process requires the subject to have no external visual stimuli." Slivix said and the turned to Pacifica. "This day your old life ends, and you are to be reborn as a child of death itself. A Felggur." Slivix turned on the machine and the pyramid glowed brighter. "First her mind sees someplace familiar most likely her home or a place she feels safe and content." He was right she was back at Northwest Manor. "Now we change what she sees and feels." Pacifica found herself in a dungeon and knifes and swords began to stab her causing her to scream as they kept stabbing.

Gofmo wasn't surprised at the screaming but was still trying to understand what he was seeing. "So, she feels real pain with nothing but the Shadow Cradle giving images to her brain?"

Slivix continued. "Yes, we use pain to condition her without causing damage to her body. Look, her heart rate is slowing. RS-225 is becoming accustomed to the horrors she is experiencing. So…" Slivix turned a dial. "…we change horrors." Pacifica let out another loud scream.

Pacifica didn't know how long she was in the shadow cradle, hours, days, maybe even weeks. She barely remembered times they stopped for her to eat and drink. They gave her a black skintight jumpsuit with matching boots and tied her hair into a ponytail. All the horrible things she experienced in the cradle blurred together. Pacifica's eyes seemed clouded. "What are my orders?" she asked.

"Answer my questions." Slivix said. "Who are you?"

"I am RS-225. A daughter of the Felggur." Pacifica answered quickly. _"No, that's not right!" _Pacifica thought.

"And Pacifica Northwest?"

"A name I use only when I need one." However, in her mind it was like Pacifica was seeing out of a clouded window. _"This can't be real!"_

"What is the first Law of the Felggur?"

"Obedience is everything!" Pacifica was aware of everything going on around her, but it was like she was sleep walking. Her body did and said things she knew she was doing but she never chose to do them.

"What is your purpose?"

"To kill my assigned targets." If Pacifica could do what she really felt, she would have cried. _"No! I don't want to kill anyone! Dipper, anyone please help me!"_

"Good. Now your training can begin. You will be my next masterpiece."

Pacifica was placed in a group of younger recruits and was given two foam daggers. "Strike!" a hooded member of the Diagia said. Pacifica swung her training weapon at the same time as the others. "Again, faster!" she did so. "Harder!" again she did as she was told.

Time passed and Slivix moved Pacifica to a group of older trainees. "Knowledge is as great a weapon as any blade. RS-225 show me what you learned in your lessons and show us which points of this creature are the most vital." A hologram of a one-eyed alien appeared. With real daggers Pacifica leapt at the target stabbing in the eye, heart, and lungs. "Perfect."

Later Pacifica was to spar with a bird like girl with red feathers. "Before you begin what is the third law of the Felggur?" Slivix asked.

"Never show mercy!" They both said.

"Begin!" The two girls fought hand to hand. The bird got one hit in before Pacifica grabbed her leg and tossed her on her back and began striking her in the chest. "Enough! DV-444 this is the fifth match you have lost in a row. Report to disposal."

"I will obey." DV-444 said who turned and walked away. Pacifica knew what this meant, and she would never see the girl again.

"What is the second law of the Felggur?" Gofmo asked as Pacifica ran through an obstacle course.

"Obey the client's wishes until the mission is complete!" Pacifica said as she jumped a pit and began to climb a wall.

"And the fourth law?"

"The only acceptable failure is by my death!" As Pacifica said this a blade was fired at her but she deflected it with one of her daggers without even looking.

"Lastly what is the fifth law?" Gofmo asked as giant mosquito like bugs were given an attack command.

"We are shadows. Never let a trace of our actions touch us!" Pacifica leapt up skewering the bugs and landing on top of the wall without any of the creatures' blood touch her. She swung her daggers causing the bugs to fall and spun her weapons cleaning off the blood.

"Good now it is time for your renewal." Gofmo said pointing to the door. Inside Pacifica didn't want to go but she could not disobey. She left and joined the others in dozens of chairs like the one they first put her in.

After months of training came the final test. Pacifica was woken up in the barracks. Dreaming was her only escape. She didn't have her own cot, everyone just slept in the first one they came to. She had her daily algae bar from the cupboard. Pacifica kept hoping the worsening taste would snap herself out of this state. "All third stage trainees report to the arena." Slivix said over the P.A. system Pacifica was in the third stage, she had heard some of the Diagia say she had advanced in the physical training faster than any Felggur before her. Pacifica made her way to the arena with the others standing next to TW-852 an young brown furred boy who looked like a monkey that was her age. Dr. Slivix spoke. "Today is your final test of your basic training, a one on one match against a veteran Felggur, to the death. Your elder brothers and sisters will have years more experience than you, but they are close to no longer being able to be renewed so this is their final service to this family. Survive and you graduate and become full-fledged Felggur! The shadowy hand that reshapes this galaxy! When your number is called your match will begin."

As Slivix sat down Gofmo asked. "This is my first final test. Is it true that we place bets on who the winners will be?"

Jomi answered. "We can, yes but Dr. Slivix never bets." She then turned to Slivix. "I heard you have something special planned for RS-225."

"She is becoming one of my greatest works, what better test for her than BX-101." Slivix smiled under his mask.

"BX-101? He is one of you finest creations and served for thirty years. He has more kills than anyone in the history of the Felggur."

"Yes, and he has been used for this test three times. If he wins this time, we may just have to send him to disposal instead."

"Well that sounds like easy money." Kofmo said. "My bet is on him."

"If Slivix thinks RS-225 can win then my money is on her." Jomi pulled out her quan disk.

"RS-225 your test begins now." Slivix said.

Pacifica entered the ring and saw BX-101. He was a large muscular man with brown skin orange hair and tusks. He wore large glaives on his arms. He rushed her and she dodged and pulled out her daggers. _"I don't want to be a killer, but I heard what they said. No matter how this fight goes you are going to die. And I don't want to die!" _Pacifica tried to stab him but BX-101 blocked her blades with his. Pacifica jumped back and her opponent lunged at her. She tried to slash him, but he grabbed her arm and tried to cut off her head. She gave him a quick kick to the head. BX-101 became dizzy from the hit. _"I'm so sorry!" _Pacifica thought as she slashed at his stomach disemboweling him.

BX-101 looked up at Slivix. "Father…Slivix." He then fell to the ground dead.

Slivix appalled. "Well done RS-225. Well done!"

"Thank you Father Slivix." Pacifica said. Out of the corner of her eye Pacifica stared as her first victim was dragged away. _"That is going to me one day."_

Later Pacifica lined up with the other survivors to receive her first mission for the Felggur. "Today you take the next step. When you are not here training and studying you will be sent out on missions." Jomi said and then looked at Pacifica. "RS-225 your first assignment is to kill this man." The monitor behind her showed a tough looking alien and the pertinent data. "He is a warlord that is making business hard of the client."

"I understand Mother Jomi." Pacifica said. She knew this was going to be her life from now on, killing whoever she was told to.

As soon as Jomi was finished handing out assignments she asked. "What is the first law of the Felggur?"

"Obedience is everything!" the whole crowd said at once.

Fifteen years later,

"My poor baby girl!" Preston said.

"And that was just in the first few months the next year things got worse." Pacifica continued.

Priscilla was dumfounded. "How could it have gotten worse?

"What I told you about was just basic training. Dr. Slivix wanted to teach me a specialized skill to make me more unique from his other works of…art. The next year he found what he wanted me to learn."

Fourteen years ago,

"I'm telling you Slivix you need to make her a master of disguise." Kofmo said. "Her species have been branded heretics by the Emperor! The more the Imperium expands the fewer places we can deploy her!"

Pacifica now fifteen years old stood nearby as the two men talked. "We have more than enough Felggur with that ability. She needs to stand out! Besides that, we get very few jobs inside Imperium space."

Jomi interrupted them. "I think you are missing something very obvious Doctor."

"And what is that?" Slivix asked.

"All of your best work has been with males. Look at her. In the year she has been with us she has grown to be a lovely looking young woman, one almost any man would want."

"Now that you mention it…" Kofmo began to drool a little.

"Kofmo! You know that is forbidden!" Slivix said. "Or do you wish to lose your life now that you have gained so much wealth and power with us?" Kofmo wiped his chin.

"Let me teach her the fine art of seduction. She will be not only your deadliest creation but also the one you will be remembered for. She will be a legend." Jomi explained.

"Very well." Slivix said.

"Good now come with me dear." Jomi said to Pacifica.

"Yes, Mother Jomi." Pacifica said but inside she was crying.

Later in a room that had to be Jomi's bedchamber Pacifica was standing awaiting orders. "Now the key is to act naturally. Like you are not Felggur but what you are must always be just beneath the surface." Jomi said. Pacifica gave a smile that did not reflect her true feelings. "Very good now let's move on to the next lesson."

A few hours later, Pacifica was sitting down on Jomi's bed. "And that is how I keep my skin so soft, go on and give it a feel. You look like you have a gentle touch." Pacifica said.

"You are a natural flirt and tease RS-225." Jomi laughed. "Tomorrow we'll go over what you do when you get them in bed with you." The day came and went. "Remember the fifth law."

"We never leave a trace of our actions."

"Good, this law is key to the success of these types of missions. You must never let them go all the way. Your virginity will be the greatest cover you can have after it is all done, and you must never leave any of your own fluids behind. This will be the hardest part of you training. You must learn to hold yourself at the very edge of ecstasy and not give into the pleasure of your body. We shall begin now. Undress, slowly."

"_Being made to kill people is bad enough! Does she have to embarrass me like this too?"_ Pacifica thought.

After two weeks of training Slivix came to Jomi. "What is her progress?"

"She has a real talent for this kind of work. If you didn't bring her to us, I bet she could have had any man she wanted back home. I think she is ready to put her new skills to work." Jomi said.

"Good, I have a job that should be a suitable test. The client wishes his political rival eliminated and has stated the target has a very caviler love life."

A few days later Pacifica was laying down in a bed in nothing but her underwear. "Well are you ready for a night you'll never forget?" Pacifica said to the man in the room. He had maroon colored skin and a single horn on his head. He too was only in his underwear.

"Oh, I am Pacifica." Her target said. He got into bed with her and they began to kiss. He caressed her and stuck his tongue in her mouth. He never noticed that she reached behind the nightside stand pulling out one of her daggers until she stabbed him in the neck. All he could do was stare at her in shock. Pacifica pulled the knife out and used the vibra-cleaner to get the blood off it while she got dressed. She left the hotel room without saying a word.

Fourteen years later,

"That was my first kiss and the Felggur ruined it! They ruined so many things that were supposed to be special to me!" Pacifica said.

"Oh, Pacifica we are so sorry you had to go through all that." Priscilla took her daughters hand.

"The only good about that training was that it allowed me to keep my virginity until my wedding night."

Preston almost fell over. "Wedding…my little girl had a wedding and I missed it." Preston said. "So, who is the lucky man?"

"Preston, it has been a long time." Pricilla said. "For all we know…"

Pacifica stood right up. She thought it would be best to stop that ship before it left the space dock. "No Mom! It's not like that! Remember Dipper Pines? He is my husband and he and the others rescued me. Even before that they gave me hope again if only for a short time."

Thirteen years ago,

Pacifica had just turned sixteen yesterday, not that the Felggur celebrate birthdays. She was called to the council chamber of the Diagia. While all of them were present Kofmo was the one who spoke. "We have a new client. One who could become a very valuable partner. The second in command of the Onyx Brotherhood thinks it is time they have a change of leadership. We need our best operative on this mission and that is you RS-225."

"Yes, Father Kofmo." Pacifica said.

"This tablet has all the information you need about the client and your target." Pacifica looked over the tablet. "You are to leave immediately."

She was on the planet Borhual two days later. Pacifica waited in front of a bar for her client. A red skinned man with a goatee an eye patch over one of his three eyes. "So, you are the assassin the Felggur sent. Name's Piker what's yours?"

"That is not information you need to know for this mission. You know where the target is going to be in three hours?" Pacifica asked.

"Yeah we have a meeting in a nearby canyon. I want you to wait to do the job until an hour and a half after the meeting starts. She will have new information I am going to need once I take over the brotherhood."

"The client's orders must be obeyed."

"Right, in three hours I want you to go to the canyon and wait there until the right time. You got all that Miss Felggur?"

Three hours and fifteen minutes later Pacifica was waiting, when several centurions approached. "Miss you need to step aside." One of the centurions said. "We are here to put an end to two terrorists."

"Then you wish to kill my client. Until the assignment is over, I must protect him." Pacifica replied pulling out her daggers and dashed through most of the centurions. The heads of all but one fell off.

"Please have mercy!" the last centurion held up his hands.

"The Felggur must never show mercy." Pacifica then chopped off the head of the last centurion. She looked over what she had done and saw each man had a different color of blood. _"A rainbow of death. I've lost count of how many people I killed who weren't a target but just got in the way. How much longer must this go on?"_ Pacifica thought. She walked into the canyon and halfway through she climbed up to a high section to prepare for her attack, unaware that other would soon follow.

"…and that will let us be able to build more Kill Cruisers." Neryo said. Pacifica had her visor on and saw three other figures enter the same section of the canyon as her target; the sun was right above them. It was time. Pacifica jumped down to the bottom of the canyon. She leapt at Neryo who shot at her, but she dodged with speed and grace. Pacifica slashed Neryo's guns in half then as Neryo tried to punch her attacker she spun around sliding to behind the Brotherhood's leader and stabbed her in the back with her left hand, orange blood spilling out the other side. She then pulled the other blade to the general's throat with her right. "Stop!" Piker shouted. "She has to know why she is going to die." He said with venom in his voice.

The young woman lowered her head and used her right thumb to push her visor up never losing her grip on her dagger. She then lifted her head and looked at Piker. "The clients orders must be obeyed." The three humans recognized her. She also recognized them. _"Dipper, Mabel, Gideon! It can't be!" _Pacifica thought.

"Pacifica?!" the they all said at once.

Piker was surprised by their familiarity with the sixteen-year girl. "You all know this girl? She is a Felggur assassin I hired." They tried to move closer to their long-lost friend when Piker pulled out his pistol. "Don't move! I'm not going to let you stop her!"

"Traitor!" Neryo wheezed spiting up more blood.

"Yes, I betrayed you and you want to know why?" Piker pointed to Gideon. "Because of him!"

Pacifica didn't pay attention to Piker's rant. _"You can't be here! You shouldn't see me like this!"_

"The Onyx Dynasty is mine by birthright!" Neryo spat.

"Your Dynasty died with your mother! A tyrant just like you! For twenty years I fought to build a better future for children like Chugar and Gideon, but you are too caught up with recapturing past glory and don't care who dies to get it! That changes today because when you die, I become the new leader of the brotherhood and there will be no more hired guns and murderers who target civilians in my brotherhood! There will be no more slaves who lost their freedom to fight for ours! And most of all there be no more children dying before their time! And that's all I have to say about that."

"Bastard!" Neryo shouted as Pacifica slit her throat. Pacifica then twirled he dagger so fast all the blood flew off. She then hung the daggers off her belt. In the whole thing not one drop of blood got on her.

Mabel was the first to recover from the shock. "Okay that was intense, but everything is all right now! We're all back together and now we can all go back to our ship and find a way home."

Pacifica moved to a fighting stance. "I must return to the Felggur." Her voice was cold and barely had any feeling to it and her eyes had a glazed look in them. _"Mabel, please! I'm not the girl you remember anymore!"_

"Pacifica it's over. Just come with us." Dipper pleaded.

"No, I must obey the laws of Felggur. Obedience is everything." Then Pacifica thought. _"I wish I could go with you, but my life is no longer mine!"_

"Pacifica what's wrong with you? It's us your friends!" Gideon said gun shaking in his hands.

Pacifica lowered her hands in reach of the daggers. _"Gideon I'm so sorry! Please you all must run away from here! I couldn't bare it if I killed you too!"_

Piker tuned his gun on Pacifica. "Stop that right now! Neryo is dead! The mission is over! There is no reason for you to fight them."

"The mission is over. The target was eliminated so you are no longer a client and I no longer must obey you. Only the laws of the Felggur." Being like this in front of her friends was more painful to Pacifica then being in the shadow cradle. _"There is nothing any of you can do for me!"_

Dipper came to a horrifying realization. "The soldiers at the entrance of the canyon. That was you!"

Pacifica reached up and pulled down he visor. "Yes. They got in the way of my assignment and had to be eliminated. Don't get my way." Inside her own mind it was like the foggy glass wall that she saw the world through had formed a small crack. _"Don't you see that I'm a monster? You all have to run now!"_

Mabel was crying. "Pacifica please! We don't have to do this! This isn't you! Don't make us do something crazy!"

"_Run!"_

"You're better than this Pacifica!" Dipper said.

"_Run!"_

In an instant Pacifica reached for a small pack on the back of her belt. "Look out!" Piker yelled as there was a blinding flash of light. Pacifica ran out of there as fast as she could. _"I…I made my own choice! I didn't kill them! That should have been impossible! I could be free! Okay I have to go back."_ Pacifica continued to run toward her ship. _"Come on! Go back!"_ Her body still didn't do what she wanted. _"I guess two miracles was a little much to ask. But I got to keep trying! In the meantime, my friends will keep looking for me. If I know anything about Dipper and Mabel is that they will never give up on a friend and Gideon made a promise to help me be a better person. It meant a lot to both us."_

Another two days later Pacifica was back at felggur headquarters standing before the Diagia again. Dr. Slivix addressed her. "RS-225, as expected your mission was a success however…" A large screen showed what happened on Borhual. "…you broke the third law of the felggur! You didn't know that your visor continuously records what is going on around you. We give all Felggur a piece of equipment that also does this so we may review missions to improve your training, we never thought we would need it to reveal such betrayal."

Jomi spoke next. "Nothing like this has happened before, not in the thousand years since the founding members of Diagia first uncovered these ruins and found the shadow cradles."

Kofmo was expelling gas faster than normal. "Such a betrayal should have only one punishment! I say she should be taken to disposal immediately!"

"No!" Slivix shouted.

"She maybe your favorite Doctor but this something that must never be allowed!"

"Kofmo you miss the point. The laws of the felggur are programed into each of them, it should be impossible for them to break! You heard Jomi, this has never happened before, and we must find out why so it doesn't happen again in the future! We must renew her now. That should correct this problem."

"You don't know that!"

"Must I remind you that I am the only who can read the ancient langue on the computers? That I alone can operate and maintain the shadow cradles?"

Kofmo snarled knowing that this made Slivx the most powerful member of the council. Jomi banged a wood block on the table and lowered her head. "I propose a compromise. We do as Slivix says but if RS-225 gets out of line again we'll have her eliminated. A rouge felggur is a threat to our entire order!"

"Agreed!" The rest of the Diagia said.

"Now RS-225 tell us why did you spare those people? What was your reason?" Slivix asked.

"_I mustn't tell them anything! They could attack them!" _Pacifica thought in her mind as hard as she could. "They…are…m…my…fr…friends!" Tears ran down Pacifica's cheek for the first time in years as she struggled not to obey.

"Friends?" Slivix looked at the screen again. "Of course, when I found you in that slave market there were three others of your kind there as well. I didn't recognize them at first. Those we make into felggur are often orphans with few if any surviving friends or family and the odds are very slim of meeting any of them again." Slivix turn back to Pacifica. "The girl that was their friend is dead. They are part of a life that no longer holds any meaning to you. These three are not worth betraying the laws of your brothers and sisters and they are certainly not worth disobeying your mothers and fathers!"

"You are not my father!" Pacifica yelled causing hushed whisper among the Diagia. "You stole my future! My choices! I hate you!"

"VB-569! GR-078! Restrain her!" The two felggur in the room took hold of Pacifica's arms. Slivix played the recording again and paused it near the end. "Look at them! The looks of shock and horror! Do you really think they want you back now that they have seen what you are now! No doubt they know what the Felggur are! You are nothing but a killer to them now! A monster!" The enraged snake man gave another order. "Bring her to the First Cradle!" A short walk later Pacifica was in the room that had the chair she was put in when she first arrived. "Get in! Obey me!"

It took all of Pacifica's will power to speak her mind, she couldn't resist. "I will obey…but…I don't want to!" Pacifica said as she sat down.

"What you want doesn't matter. It never did." Slivix said turning the cradle on as Pacifica screamed.

Thirteen years later,

"I wouldn't see Dipper or the rest of them again for two more years." Pacifica said.

Priscilla held her hand up to her mouth. "My poor sweet girl. I always feared something awful happened to you but this worse than anything I have imagined."

Preston hit the desk in the room. "Where is he? Take me to your ship and bring me to him! I don't care if I must spend every cent I have left, or what anyone will think of me! I will make this so-called doctor pay for the misery he put my daughter through!"

There was a knock at the door. "Sorry for interrupting." Dipper said.

"Mason!" Pacifica leapt up and gave him a deep passionate kiss.

"Mason?" Pacifica's parents asked.

"Mason is Dipper's first name. Everyone just calls him Dipper because of his birthmark." Pacifica explained smiling.

"She only calls me Mason if she is really happy or angry at me." Dipper said with a chuckle.

"I see." Preston said as his anger ebbed away seeing his daughter truly happy in the arms of her husband. "I owe you an apology Mr. Pines." Preston held out his hand. "Years ago, at that fated party you were already a better man than I ever was. I am very glad my daughter could marry a man like you."

Dipper shook Preston's hand. "I'm the one lucky sir. You have a brave, strong, kind, and beautiful daughter. Having her in my life is what made the past eleven years bearable. I couldn't help but overhear what you were saying earlier and to assure you of this. Slivix will never hurt your daughter or anyone else ever again." Dipper then said to Pacifica. "I knew I should have been here for you with all of this Paz."

"It's okay my darling." Pacifica as she rubbed his cheek. "Talking with my parents, facing my past, it's something that I needed to do for years and it really is helping me. Remember that saying 'you don't appreciate what you have until it's gone'? My parents realized that I'm what mattered most to them and while they had some hard times, they really seem to be better people now."

"That is wonderful. We never told you the details of how we put an end Felggur before we got you back because we thought it might bring up painful memories for you. But now maybe it can give you closure and both your parent's peace of mind."

"Well I certainly want to know how you were the brave knight who saved my princess." Pricilla said.

Dipper thought back. "We've spent close to a year following a trail of cargo ships we were told about by another former felggur named Hok-Hok. I spent a lot of sleepless nights trying to solve the mystery of where they were going.

Eleven years ago,

"Good morning Dipper! How's my favorite Dipper?" Mabel asked. She got her answer right away as she entered Dipper's room. He had bags under his eyes and was chewing his shirt again. His personal star chart had lots of yellow dotted lines all over the Azure crown cluster that went in circles. "Dipper not another all-nighter!"

"I'm so close to figuring it out…" Dipper rubbed his eyes. "Hok-Hok said the planet was orbiting a red dwarf star. Ixcia how many red dwarfs are along the routes we charted."

"Fifty." Ixcia said putting red circles on the map.

"He also said that the star was clouded like it was surrounded by a cloud of interstellar dust. How many of those stars have clouds like that?"

"Twenty-four" Ixcia said removing circles.

Dipper groaned. "What else? Maybe…the mushrooms! He said there were glowing mushroom all over the place."

"There is only one bioluminescent species of fungus in the Azure Crown Star Cluster." Ixcia show a picture of a blue glowing mushroom.

"How many of the remaining systems have planets with this fungus?"

"Eighteen."

"Wait that's not right!" Mabel said. "Hok-Hok said the mushrooms were green not blue. Ixcia is there something that can change the color of the mushrooms?"

"Yes, this fungus is most commonly blue in color but if they grow in soil with a high selenium content, they become green instead."

"Do any of those planets have soil with a high selenium content?"

"Yes."

"How many?!" Dipper said with a raised voice.

"One." Only on circle remained and the holo-display spilt to show the planet.

"We did it! We found her!" Dipper shouted with joy.

"What all the commotion?" Gideon asked. The fifteen-year-old had grown even more muscular and to around the same height as the others in the past year.

"We found Pacifica's home base!" Mabel said giving Gideon a hug. She then turned to Dipper. "Another win for the Mystery Twins!" Mabel gave Dipper a fist bump.

Dipper began to pull up a manifest. "Now we got make a rescue plan! We should check on the supplies we have and see what we might need. We also have to call Hok-Hok, he knows the layout of the base."

"Woah hold on Bro-bro! The first thing you need to do is get some sleep!" Mabel scolded.

"A cup of hot Nevba juice and I'll be fine."

"She's right Dipper." Gideon said. "If we are going to bust into a place with who knows how many well-trained assassins, we all need to be at our best. You're not going to be much good to Pacifica like this."

Mabel turned off the display. "Go to bed. Co-captains orders. We'll call Hok-Hok and check on everything. I'll wake you up when he gets here."

"I'm too tired to argue." Dipper yawned.

After several hours of sleep Dipper was at the airlock with the others. The door opened and not only was Hok-Hok there now wearing a blue robe but so was someone else. "Huo-Huo what are you doing here?" Mabel asked.

"Helping my grandson of course. I will not and cannot help you fight but I will do what I can." The old man said.

"Alright then. Join us in the common area we have a plan to make." Dipper said.

After everyone sat down Hok-Hok used Ixcia to make a floor plan of the base. "I've spent most of my life there, so this is accurate. Because the Diagia believe no one can find them there aren't many defenses except for the felggur themselves. There is only a short-range sensor grid that will alert them if anyone land on the planet."

"With Ixcia's cloak we can land undetected no problem." Gideon said.

"Even with me fighting with you we would be severely outnumbered."

"Guys what if we use the old Trojan Horse plan?" Dipper suggested.

"Oh classic!" Mabel said.

"Trojan Horse?" Huo-Huo asked.

Dipper explained. "A very old story from our planet. There was this army trying to attack the city of Troy, but they couldn't get past the city's walls. So, this army built a giant wooden statue of an animal called a horse. They left it in front of the city gates and sailed away saying it was a gift for the bravery of the soldiers of Troy. The Trojans brought the horse into city but as night fell and everyone went to sleep some soldiers of the attacking army climbed out from inside the horse and opened the gates allowing their comrades to return and destroy the city."

"Oh, yes." Huo-Huo understood. "We have a parable much like that. So, you want to sneak inside."

"That shouldn't be a problem." Gideon held his quan disk. "We've been tracking their supply ships for a year. It shouldn't be a problem to board one and have them hide us in some crates. We've even been saving up in case we needed a large amount money for the plan. One hundred kiloquan should be a big enough bribe."

"Even then there will be felggur everywhere." Hok-Hok said.

"If only we could get them all to leave." Mabel groaned.

Hok-Hok remembered something. "Wait one of the first things we were taught after we were made felggur was to evacuate the base and protect the night council if a certain alarm was raised."

"Like the fire drills we had at school!" Mabel snapped her fingers.

"There are panels that can activate the alarm all over the complex including the supply room that the crates should be taken to. The only problem is that only someone with the registered DNA of a diagia activate it." Hok-Hok looked at the floor plan again. "The supply room is right across from the renewal chamber. That is where the brainwashing is reapplied and except for council meetings there should always be at least one diagia there. So how do we get that person into the supply room?"

"Leave that to Mabel and her trusty grappling hook."

Dipper clapped his hands. "Great! This is not just a rescue mission though. Hok-Hok how many of these…" Dipper was disgusted at the thought of the machines. "...shadow cradles are there?"

"Two dozen in the renewal chamber and one in this room." Hok-Hok pointed to it on the floor plan.

"Gideon do we have enough explosives?"

"If we all carry about two belts going in and with proper placement in the renewal chamber then yes, we got just enough. I'll need to get more afterward."

"Good, but if we want to end them for good well need to destroy all data on them as well. If anyone gets the idea in their heads to build more of these things, then should have to start from scratch! Did you finish making that computer virus I asked you about two weeks go?"

Mabel stood up. "We both finished it and it's safely stored in an isolated section of Ixcia's memory. Once she uploads it all their computers will be good for is as doorstops."

"One problem with that plan." Hok-Hok said. "The only external link is the communications channel for clients. It's not connected to the main computer."

"You can build an external data drive link to my systems." Ixcia said splitting her display again with the plans for the device.

Gideon snapped his fingers. "I can build that right now in five minutes! Soostron get me a box of spare parts!"

"The main computer should be in this room here." Hok-Hok pointed it out on the map. "There is no guarantee that all the felggur including your friend will be on planet when we do this. I suggest your computer uploads whatever current missions are active, who the targets are and who was assigned the missions. We'll contact the proper authorities so lives can be saved and the rest of the felggur rescued.

"There is still the matter of those who first built the cradles." Huo-Huo said. "Are you really going to kill them so no one can build more?"

"We won't have to grandfather. The cradles were built long ago by a long dead people only Dr. Slivix knows how to work them or make repairs. It's how his family have remained the strongest of the daigia." Hok-Hok said.

"So, you mean this plan could succeed with no bloodshed!"

"Who is this Slivix?" Dipper asked. "He has to be the one who did this to you and Pacifica. I want to personally make sure he faces justice for what he's done."

Mabel took Dippers hand. "Dipper remember what we talked about last year. Don't let this guy make you into something you're not. I'm angry too but we have to be better than the bad guys or it's not worth it."

"I just don't want him to get away. Please Hok-Hok what does he look like?"

Hok-Hok closed his eyes. "He is a blue skinned man with a long tail instead of legs and he is always wearing a mask. I've never seen his face."

"That's the guy who bought Pacifica in the first place!" Mabel said.

Dipper took a breath. "Right, the last part of this plan will be exit, backup, and timing. Ixcia you should still come to the planet cloaked; you can track us with our implants. Your job will to provide a quick exit if something goes wrong and just as important you need keep the felggur outside after they evacuate. They may be tough, but I don't think they would tangle with your Tri-laser canons."

"Understood." was Ixcia's reply.

"One last thing, we should do this as close to this renewal ceremony as possible. If we do it before that then it means we should have to wait only hours at the most for the brainwashing to wear off and the tables will be completely turned on the diagia."

Hok-Hok crossed his arms an swung his tail. "In that case we need to act in the next few days. I have been keeping track of when I would have been renewed in anticipation of this day."

Huo-Huo raised his hand. "What can I do to help?"

Mabel thought for a moment. "There are going to be a whole lot of people who will have just woken up from the longest nightmare ever when this over. I think you should get back to your ship and wait for our signal out of their scanner range. You'll either need to help us get out which means the plan went to heck or we succeeded and there will be a lot of people like your grandson who will need your help. Especially when comes to finding their homes and families. It's going to be very big job."

"No, it will be a privilege. If we succeed, then in a few days you'll have rid this galaxy of an evil that scourged it for a thousand years."

A few days later Dr. Slivix called an emergency meeting of the diagia. "What this about?" Kofmo complained.

"Yes, Slivix it is almost time for the renewal. This had better be important." Jomi said.

"Then I'll get right to the point." Slivix pulled up an image. "We got a job offer from the regent of the Imperium, Duradis."

"He does know a lot of our clients hire us to kill his generals, right?" Kofmo mocked.

"He wants us to send our best assassin to kill the young Empress Stellara in three days' time." Slivix explained.

"Impossible!" Kofmo said as the others talked amongst themselves. "You may not remember this old man but a few years ago I told you that with SR-225's kind branded as heretics, she can't set foot on an Imperium world! Much less the capital!

Jomi spoke next. "Not only that but if she is to make this deadline, she must take our only ship and leave within the hour! She must be renewed today, and the full process takes five hours!"

Slivix held up his hands. "A fifteen-minute renewal will let her remain in our control for the necessary three days and Duradis assures me she will not be harmed and will hold her for us until we can send someone to retrieve her and the ship." It was time for Slivix to lay his cards on the table. "I have been keeping a secret from you all. As you know it was my ancestors who first found the shadow cradles and the secrets of their operation that have been passed down the generations. However, they never fully understood all the components, we have made repairs to the cradles as best we could but after a thousand years of use and two thousand more buried certain key components are starting to break down. I estimate that most if not all of the cradles will be inoperable two or three years." There hushed whispers among the council. "However, Duradis as offered that along with double our usual fee that as emperor he would allow the Felggur to become a sanctioned organization in the Imperium! He would send the best scientists and unlimited funding in studying the cradles. I am positive we would not only repair what we have but also build more! We would have legions of felggur spreading our influence on to other galaxies. We can help Duradis take over the universe! Give us all greater wealth and power we have even dreamed of. Those are our choices extinction or the greatest expansion the Felggur has ever known! What say you my brothers and sisters?"

"Agreed!" They all said.

Slivix turned on the P.A. system. "SR-225 report to the first cradle."

Sixteen minutes later Pacifica and Slivix were making their way to the launch bay when they ran into a younger felggur pushing a cart with four crates on it. "Excuse me father we just received these supplies."

"Yes, yes take them to the supply room. We are in a hurry." Slivix waved the boy off. As the crates were pushed away the pair made it to the ship. It was dark grey and shaped like a bullet with three semicircular wings. "This will be the most impactful mission of your life. An appropriate disguise is already on board for you." He handed Pacifica a tablet. "This is the client and the target. You are going to kill an empress."

Pacifica took the tablet and looked it over. _"No! She's only six years old!" _Pacifica thought as she handed the tablet back.

"Your success will propel the Felggur to new heights. Now before you leave tell me what the first law of the felggur is?"

"Obedience is everything." Pacifica said entering the ship and taking off.

Two minutes earlier when they were sure no one else in the supply room the rescue team exited the crates. "So far so good." Gideon said.

Mabel peeked around the corner of the doorway. "I don't see anyone in the hallway." she whispered. "I do see a fat pink guy in the next room. He hasn't noticed us."

"Is he wearing a purple cloak?" "Hok-Hok asked.

"Yes."

"That is one of the diagia."

"Just who we need. Like I said before leave this to Mabel." Mabel took aim with her grappling hook and fired. The cord wrapped around Kofmo and he was quickly pulled into the supply room. Everyone covered their noses for a second as Mabel switched to blaster mode. "Alright Stinky. If you don't want another hole in your head, you'll hit the evac alarm."

Kofmo held up his hands. "How did you get here?"

"Do as she says Kofmo." Hok-Hok pointed his sword at his former master.

"You! You're supposed to be dead!"

"Stop stalling!" Dipper said. "And don't try anything. Hok-Hok will know if you do and you'll be dead before any help arrives." Reluctantly Kofmo hit the alarm and a whooping sound could be heard all over the base.

Slivix met with Jomi. "What is going on?" he asked.

"I don't know! We are following standard procedure." She answered.

"Go with the others I must make sure our data is secure. We can't lose it so close to saving our order!" Slivix slithered away as fast as he could.

Back at the supply room the team saw several felggur run by. "Good. Things should be clear now." Dipper said pulling out the drive. "I'll head to the main computers you guys start setting the charges on the shadow cradles."

"You can't they're not replaceable!" Kofmor shouted.

"That's the idea." Gideon said.

Mabel shook her gun. "I'll keep an eye this guy, so he won't warn anybody."

"Let's go!" Dipper said as he left, the others moved to the next chamber.

Outside to base Jomi completed a head count. "Where is Kofmo?" she asked as Ixcia decloaked with her cannons already deployed.

Ixcia spoke through her load speakers. "Please remain where you are. Any attempt to reenter your facility will result in you being fired upon."

Jomi growled. "Prepare to att…" Before she could finish Ixcia pointed one cannon in another direction and fired making a very large crater.

"Please remain where you are and make no attempt to attack or return to your facility. This is your final warning."

Inside Dipper made it to the computer room. "Right here." Dipper said as he plugged the drive in a port. "Ixcia you should be connected."

"Confirmed, beginning download. I have secured the remaining felggur." Ixcia said over the communicator.

"Who are you and what are doing?" Slivix shouted. "Wait I know you. You are one of the other three humans!"

"And I know you are Dr. Slivix!" Dipper said firing beams from his gauntlet. Slivix dodged them. "And we are here to make you pay for what you did to your victims!"

"Yes, we killed many but a great deal of them were warlords and crime bosses. Are you so naive to think to that change can be achieved in this universe without violence?"

"I also mean the Felggur themselves! You kidnap, break, manipulate and discard them! You ruin innocent children who only want to grow up to live happy lives! It all stops here! Today!"

"It will not be easy. I have trained felggur for sixty years. Did you think I would know nothing of combat?" Slivix reach behind his cloak and pulled out two small scythes.

Back in the renewal chamber Gideon and Hok-Hok had placed several bombs. "I'm almost out. I can take this last one to the first cradle." Hok-Hok said.

"Go. I can handle the rest." Gideon said.

As Hok-Hok left Kofmo was sweating. "Listen I can pay you whatever you want if you stop what you are doing!"

Mabel shot at his feet. "Fat chance! Don't you feel the least bit bad about what you do here? All the lives these things destroyed?"

Gideon placed on more bombs. "Ignore him Mabel. All this guy seems to care about is money. Just a few more to go." Kofmo then release a large cloud of gas blinding the two. As they coughed, he ran out of the room. "He's getting away!" Gideon pulled out his gun.

"No Gideon! You were right! We have a job to finish. There's nothing he can do about it now and the work can go faster."

Outside Jomi was getting frustrated. The felggur looked like they were having headaches. "We should have started the renewal by now." She said as Kofmo ran out right under Ixcia.

"Jomi they're going to…blow up the…shadow cradles! They made me… turn on…the alarm." Kofmos said as he gasped for air.

"Please remain where you are." Ixcia's voice made Kofmo look up.

Jomi grabbed Kofmo with her third hand and pulled him right to her lowered face. "You idiot!"

In the computer room the fight continued. "You think what you're doing is so noble don't you?" Slivix said giving Dipper's left arm a cut. "But it is just your own hatred of us! You are no better!"

Ixcia's voice came over the com. "Everyone the download is complete. Pacifica is not here. She has been sent on a mission to assassinate the Empress of the Grand Cosmic Imperium."

"You see? There is nothing you can do to stop it!" Slivix tried to slash Dipper's throat.

Dipper dodge the blade and used one of his boosters to give a more powerful kick breaking Slivix's right arm. "Shut up!"

"That was clever. Maybe I should have tried to bid on you too. You would have been as good an assassin as SR-225." Slivix said through the pain.

"Her name is Pacifica!" Dipper gave a strong punch breaking Slivix's mask and forcing him to drop his scythes.

Slivix lifted his head showing he had snake eyes and his mouth opened sideways revealing razor sharp teeth as a forked tongue lash out. He lunged at Dipper but stopped as he went into a coughing fit. He looked up to Dipper. "Go ahead. Finish it." Slivix wheezed.

"No." Dipper said. "That's what you want, but I'm not a killer. I may have come close once, but I won't kill someone unless lives are on the line and don't give the you're dying anyway line because of your mask. When what you looked like was described to me days ago, I investigated your species. You wear a filter mask because of a medical condition that makes you weak without it but it's not fatal. Besides I got something worse for you." The sound of explosions could be heard.

"What was that?" Slivix asked.

"That was the sound of every shadow cradle being blown up. Ixcia code hotdog skateboard goat."

"Confirmed." Ixica said.

On the screens of the computers the image of Gompers the goat appeared. "Hi, I'm Mabel and your computer's data is being deleted by the Gompers computer virus." Mabel's prerecord voice said as the goat bleated and began to everything on the screens. "Hungry little guy isn't?"

"Nooooo!" Slivix screamed.

Dipper grabbed Slivix by his robe. "Your family started this a thousand years ago and you said you've been at this for sixty years. Your family's legacy and your life's work has been destroyed. You can spend the rest of your life thinking about that." Dipper flew down the corridor dragging Slivix right behind him.

Dipper joined to others outside as he tossed Slivix into the crowd. "Dipper! We did it!" Mabel said.

"Damn you humans! You and all your kind!" Jomi shouted.

Slivix began to laugh. "You may have ended the Felggur, but our legacy will endure. When the Empress dies by your friend's hand in three days there will be no doubt that we were the deadliest force in the galaxy!"

Suddenly all the Felggur held their heads and screamed in pain. "Just like it was with me." Hok-Hok said.

There were a lot of angry faces staring at the Diagia. "You ruined my life!" one Felggur said.

"My friend died because of your training!" another said.

"It's all your fault and you are going to pay!" said a third.

The Ixcia crew couldn't stop the coming bloodbath so they turned away as the former mind-controlled assassins sent upon the ones who were their masters. The diagia members were far outnumbered and couldn't fight back against so many. When it was over the humans could hardly recognize the bloody piles of flesh and bone that were once people. It took all their will power not to throw up. "Huo-Huo it's all over. Come on down." Mabel said trying to put what just happened behind her.

A gold colored crescent shaped ship came down. This was an Imperium freighter and Huo-Huo and Hok-Hok's ship. While that ship landed Dipper had one more thought. "Ixcia let's make sure the job is done. Target those ruins and fire! Leave nothing that anyone can use."

"Confirmed." Ixci fired several times until all that was left was the bedrock. After that she landed as did the other ship.

The cargo bay door of Huo-Huo's ship opened and he walked out. "Hello. I am glad to meet you all. My grandson and I are here to help you all heal your spirits and find what families and homes you have left. We will help you find a future for every one of you."

"We'd hate to just leave you two with all of these folks to take care of, but we have to go now if we want to catch up to Pacifica." Gideon said.

Mabel gave Hok-Hok a hug. "But we know they're in good hands. We couldn't have done this without you Hok-Hok."

Hok-Hok nodded. "And I wouldn't be free to have helped if weren't for all of you."

"It is sad that you must leave so quickly without hearing the thanks of all these souls." Huo-Huo said. He then spoke to the crowd. "Everyone you should burn their names and faces into your hearts and memories. Dipper, Mabel, and Gideon. Though they came to save a friend, one of your own, they have given you back your lives. Never forget what they have done this day. Now everyone into our ship, be sure to help the little ones."

"Come on guys." Dipper said. "We need to go too." They got into Ixcia and she took off.

"Okay, so we know that Pacifica is going after the Empress but, where is she?" Mabel asked.

"There is only place she can be." Ixcia said. "The capital of the Grand Galactic Imperium and perhaps the most fortified planet in the universe, Celestio."

Eleven years later,

"They all got what they deserved." Pacifica said. "After using them as weapons for most of their lives the minute they lost control those weapons turned on them. We never knew each other's names or could really talk to each other but hearing that the others were in the care of people who did care is a relief. It's a comfort to know that there are others like me who went through what I did and survived."

Dipper smiled. "I sometimes wonder how Hok-Hok and the others are doing now. Are they safe and happy? Did any of them reunite with any of their families or made some of their own?"

"Well you know the answer for one at least. I made a new family with you, the smartest and most wonderful man I know, with Mabel, Gideon, and Ixcia. You all made me very happy. And now I reunited with my old family who I now know loves me too. A happy ending so far."

"Most defiantly." Priscilla said. "But however, Mason you stopped before you got to the part of the story we really want to hear."

"Indeed." Preston agreed. "You have the perfect set up. The brave and dashing hero and his companions racing to storm the castle to save not only the princess but also an innocent little girl."

"I wish it was that simple Dad." Pacifica sighed. "While they did get me back on Celestio the events that took place there caused ripples that made our lives so much harder until we got to the Milky Way."

"But the whole storming the castle part is a good analogy. Or as I recall Gideon saying at the time…"

Eleven years ago,

"We are entering the Lions' Den. You know that, right?" Gideon said as he made an adjustment to one of Ixcia's parts.

Dipper handed Gideon a tool. "Well then it's a good thing that the lions think we're dead."

"A lion will eat the meat if it's dead or alive. I'm just saying if we make one mistake, we're all dead and that includes Pacifica. There finished." The part Gideon worked on lit up in a yellow light.

"We are arriving at our destination. Everyone, please come to the bridge." Ixcia said.

On the way to the bridge Dipper and Gideon found Mabel painting on one of the doors of the crew quarters. "Since we're either getting Pacifica back today or we are all going die I'd figure I would go head and paint Pacifica's name on her new room. I even used her favorite color, Hot Pink." Mabel pointed to her work. The I's were even dotted with little hearts.

Dipper put his hand on his sister shoulder. "I'm sure she'll love it Mabel but let's focus on getting her back and keeping her from doing something she would regret forever."

When they got to the bridge, they saw countless ships. Many of them were Imperium warships but most were much smaller ones flying to and from a planet that looked much like Earth except the southern half of the northern continent they could see was one enormous city with what looked several maglev lines going to an alien equivalent of the Great Wall of China surrounding a circular pattern on the northern half of the continent. "Those are a lot of space doughnuts." Mabel said pointing out the destroyers.

Dipper looked over the planet. "There's something that doesn't make sense. Our schooling told us the Imperium came to this galaxy a hundred years ago." He then looked at navigation. "Then how come the capital is in this galaxy?"

"That is because Celestio is the only known mobile planet." Ixcia explained.

Everyone was confused. "Say what now?" Gideon said.

"On one side of the planet are the global engines that propel it though space to any system they wish. The Imperium sends Celestio to the galaxy they are focusing their efforts to conquer once a secure foot hold is made. The side we are looking at contains the capital city of Primia located south of the Imperial Palace. As you can see there are many patrols and my cloaking system will not function with the jamming net that surrounds the planet."

"So how can we even get close?" Mabel asked.

"How we can succeed in our mission has a great deal to do with the mission that Pacifica has been sent on. According to the data we retrieved the Felggur were hired by Regent Duradis to assassinate Empress Stellara on the condition that the assassination be complete before the end of the day."

"Alright. Typical kill the heir to the throne so the bad guy gets it."

Dipper tapped his chin. "But why does it need to be today?"

"Five days ago, Stellara turned six. According to the religious teachings of the Imperium she is now old enough to speak the will of the universe. Because she too young to rule herself tradition mandates that she appoint a person the position of Voice of the Stars. This individual is to speak what she says is the will of the universe to the royal court and on the authority of these words is the only person who can veto the decisions of the regent."

"So, he has to gamble. Either he keeps all the power he's had for three years for the rest of his life or effectively have it cut in half until he loses it all in eleven years." Gideon said.

"And how does this help us?" Mabel asked.

"The Naming of the Voice is a public ceremony and would be Stellara's first public appearance since her father's death. Millions of Imperium citizens are arriving even now to attend."

"So, there are too many people for the Imps to keep track of!"

"And with the adjustment you made to my identifying transponder they will not recognize me as a ship that once carried known heretics."

"Even if we can land safely if anyone realizes were humans it's over." Dipper said.

Ixcia displayed a white robe with a large hood and gold trim. "All regular citizens who are in the presence of the Empress are required to wear this garment and have the hood up the conceal the face, so all citizens are equal in her eyes. It shouldn't be difficult to obtain them on the surface."

Mabel laughed at her own thought. "It would be like one of those Locate Larry books except all the characters are wearing stripped sweaters."

Gideon flex his muscles. "I just hope we can find one in double extra-large."

"Right, so let's find a place to land and get a map to the palace. Security will be tight Gideon you should get a jammer ready. I doubt they'll let us bring weapons inside and sad as I am to say it until Pacifica snaps out of it, she won't go without a fight." Dipper said.

"I'm on it Dipper." Gideon left the bridge to get to work.

Dipper took the helm when a call came in. "Cargo vessel identify yourself."

Mabel ran to navigation and opened the channel. "This is Sally Hugsalot, captain of the cargo ship Pacifica's Chance. We are carrying several passengers who hope to see her highness."

"Them and everyone else. We can't get a visual on you."

"We have had a big party last night celebrating seeing the Empress and one of the passengers indulged a little too much and broke our bridge camera. We'll get it fixed before we leave."

"Well tell him he better be sober in front of our young leader. A landing pad will be available in ten minutes."

"Thank you." Mabel closed the channel.

Dipper wiped the sweat off his brow. "We better hurry, Pacifica already has a head start on us. Unlike getting into the felggur headquarters we are going to have to make up most the plan as we go."

"By the seats of our pants as usual."

When they landed in the enormous city, they met a young orange man with his mouth at the end of a tube coming out of his head. "Right guess you guys will be docked until tomorrow like most of the pilgrims…" the dock worker yawned. "…sorry not getting much sleep with so many coming the past few days. Just let me secure you ship with the docking clamps, so tired."

Dipper pulled out his quan disk. "Or you could forget the clamps, move on to you next job, not tell anyone about it, and make five centaquan."

"Whatever. If it lets me get to bed sooner, then fine." They made the exchange and the humans followed the map or the scantrix. "Couldn't let Ixcia be held down, not if we need our usual quick getaway."

They walked out to the street and saw many people in the white robes. "Now all we need is to get the right clothes and we can be on our way." Mabel said.

Gideon looked around. "We may have a slight problem with that. Look at the stores around here." They saw a lot of signs with the robes on them that read 'sold out'. "We don't have time to find a place that still has them. So, that leaves us with one option." Gideon lead the twins into an alley and down the street as three robed pilgrims coming down the street. "They look about our sizes."

A few seconds later the three were disrobed and on the ground unconscious. "You and your Empress will thank us for this one day." Dipper said. They made their way to the mag-lev station and boarded the crowded train. As it left the station the scenery began to blur as it sped up. The city gave way to vast fields like a lawn that was miles long broken up only by the occasional pond or small forest. The train slowed down as it came to a massive wall. They disembarked following the crowd to an opening in the wall that was guarded by a dozen centurions making the pilgrims go one at a time through scanning booths. The apparent commanding officer was a male Fenari.

"I'll go first and jam the scanners." Gideon volunteered.

Gideon walked up to the booth and turned the jammer on. As he walked into the booth the helmeted centurion stopped him. "Something's wrong. I'm not getting any kind of readings from you."

"Well that is unfortunate." Gideon said hoping to avoid a pat down that would expose his blaster.

"You're not moving until I get a reading."

Dipper noticed the jammer was also affecting the other nearby scanners and others were being held up. This gave him an idea. "Hey buster!" Dipper yelled at Gideon. "You're holding up the line!"

Mabel saw the other lines were also starting to complain. She realized her brother's plan and decided to help fan the flames of discord. "Yeah! Some of us want to see her grace before she becomes an old lady!" Mabel was careful to say what was truthful so the fenari officer wouldn't suspect anything.

More people were getting angry. "What do we do? If this keeps up, we could have a riot on our hands!" one centurion said.

The commanding officer decided. "Let them through. With all the security and witnesses in the plaza only an idiot would try something against her holiness there." The group of humans moved through quickly and entered a large crowed plaza with the appearance that some people were camping there for days. It was in front of a giant palace made with gold trimmed marble with several stain glass windows and had a large balcony. They rode a small hovercraft with camera drones flying all around for the big event.

"Thanks guys, that was close." said a grateful Gideon. "Now how do we find Pacifica? She must be wearing the same kind of disguise as we are."

Mabel spoke up. "What that Imp said was right. Pacifica wouldn't try to attack here. She must have found a way inside the palace."

Dipper tried to get close to the place for a look. "I doubt Duradis would have just let her in the front door. She would need an entrance that could be easy to find if you were looking for it, but most people wouldn't notice it. That could be it." He pointed to a small open basement window behind a flowering bush.

"That looks like a tight squeeze." Gideon said.

"It's all we have right now." Dipper knelt and crawled through followed by Mabel. Gideon almost got stuck on his pecs but was able to get through after making a large exhale.

Mabel looked around. "She was definitely here. Look these bars were bolted over the window but Duradis must have removed it for Pacifica and look over there. That must be the robe she used."

As they took off the robes to be ready to restrain Pacifica Dipper contacted Ixcia. "Ixcia according to the felggur data how long until Pacifica's brainwashing wears off?"

"Approximately four hours. The Naming of the Voice ceremony is to begin in five hours."

"And we have to search a building the size of two large shopping malls. Mabel, Gideon we have no choice but to spilt up."

Mabel held up her wrist. "We should stay on coms and call as soon as Pacifica is found."

"I think I have an idea that might increase our chances. We know she's looking for Stellara so if we find the kid and stick close Pacifica should come us." Gideon said.

Dipper took his gauntlet off his belt and put it on. "We'll look for both then. Try to stay out of sight and call if there's trouble. Let's bring Pacifica home guys."

They left the basement and went in three separate directions. Dipper went to the eastern wing and went up some stairs, Gideon took the west wing, and Mabel cut down the middle and found herself in a large garden with a hedge maze. As she made her way through the maze, she heard a bouncing ball. Mabel peered around the hedge and saw Empress Stellara playing with bright pink ball alone. "This is Mabel, I found the Empress. She's in the middle of the gardens." She whispered.

Dipper's voice came over. "Stay close Mabel. We'll keep looking for Pacifica but now we know to make our way toward the center, whatever you do don't let her see you!"

"Right." Mabel looked up from the com to see Stellara staring right at her.

"Hello, would you please you play me?" The blue skinned girl had grown since Mabel first saw her on the news, but she still had her blonde braid but now wore a white dress with sapphires sown into it and a small gold tiara.

"Uh, okay…" Mabel looked around but didn't see any guards. "…but why are you alone your highness?"

Stellara sighed. "I was tired of everyone being afraid of the guards if they do something if they say or do the wrong thing around me. But if I'm not alone I'm supposed have the guards with me, so I'm playing alone but it's not much fun. I know today is very special and I should be happy but I'm not. I picked Mother to be the Voice so we can be together more but, I don't hear or feel what the universe wants! I should but I can't! If I can't tell Mother what the universe needs her to say, then Duradis may send her away! I didn't expect this! This isn't how it's supposed to be! Duradis is right, all things must be in order and the unexpected leads to nothing chaos and ruin!" Stellara began to cry.

"Pardon my language your majesty but that's just baloney! Unexpected surprises can lead you to the most amazing fun things in your life!"

"How?"

Mabel tried to think of a good example and then had a great idea. "Let me tell you the story of the Mystery Twins and the Gnomes." Mabel sat down.

"What is a Gnome?" Stellara asked.

"Tiny bearded men with magical powers. Once upon a time the was a boy named…Pine Tree who was smart and curious and his sister Shooting Star who was creative, playful, and pretty. One summer they were sent to visit their great uncle…Moonfish who lived in an old shack in the woods that he made into a museum of the most amazing things in the world with the help of his young friends Question Mark and Ice. After a few days Pine Tree found a mysterious Journal in the forest…"

Dipper wandered the hallways looking at the scantrix. "Come on! I should easily pick up Pacifica's life signs! But this place is so big Pacifica could be way out of range! I got find her before she finds the Empress." As Dipper stared at the device, he walked into someone knocking them down. "I'm so sorry!" Dipper helped the woman up without thinking.

The woman was a Celestanite with shoulder length black hair in a simple red dress. "It is alright. With everything going on people have been bumping into me all day. So, tell me what were you muttering under your breath about the Empress? What does this Pacifica plan to do with my daughter?"

"Wait, you're her mother?"

"And don't think about lying to me. I may not be a fenari but before I came to the palace, I was in the company of conmen for most of my life, so I know a lie when I hear one. I recognize your species. Emperor Grandus declared you all heretics."

"Listen I'm trying to save my friend and your daughter! Pacifica became felggur against her will! I just want to stop her long enough for her mind to become her own again without her being haunted with memory of killing a little girl who like her was born into the expectations that come with being from powerful family. My sister is watching Stellara right now."

Stellara's mother looked into Dipper's eyes. "You are speaking from your heart. I believe you."

"That is a relief. I never expected Grandus' wife to believe a heretic."

"I was chosen to be a concubine to bare Grandus an heir before he passed because I had just turned twenty-five, the age I could begin to have children and was at my most fertile. I bare no ill will to any he called heretic since I would be considered one myself.

"How's that?"

"I suppose a formal introduction is in order. I am Veritas and I am a Child of Cosmodius."

Dipper shook Veritas' hand. "Dipper Pines and I have no idea what that means."

"I'm not surprised, the Imperium wishes to hide anything that would taint its image of orderly unity. It all started 4000 years ago with Empress Astrada and her younger brother prince Cosmodius. Though he could not inherit the Diamond Throne since his sister already had a son; Cosmodius dedicated his life to studying the Sacred Writings of the Imperium faith. However, his sister grew arrogant, proclaiming that she was the manifestation of the will of the universe. Cosmodius knew from his studies that this was a twisted interpretation of his faith for the writings say that the ruler of the Imperium's duty is to interpret the will of the universe by listening to many kinds of people. To hear the different perspectives and facets of life. When he couldn't convince Astrada to turn from this path he made it his mission to preserve the writings and teach them to any who would listen, they became a new sect of the Imperium faith called the Children of Cosmodius. After both siblings had passed away Astrada's son Emperor Titanar the Fifth declared all Cosmodius' followers heretics and the members of my sect have been living in hiding ever since."

"And now you are mother of the Empress."

"Lately she has been having doubts about her 'divinity' and she is naming me Voice of the Stars so we can spend more time together. I hate to take advantage of her loneliness but Duradis never allows me to see her so I couldn't teach her of my faith, the faith of her grandmother, the true teachings her Imperium was founded on and her role in the universe. I can't let anything happen to Stellara, she is my child, and this may be the last chance to save the soul of my people. I will help you protect her and save your friend."

"Great so what do we need to do?"

"You said your friend is felggur so she has to be working for someone. Who hired her, how did you learn of this plot? We might be able to force them to cancel the contract. No contract means she won't try to kill Stellara."

"It was Duradis. When my friends and I destroyed the felggur's operations we got all the details from their computers."

"Duradis but why?"

"It's a classic story where I'm from. Stellara is the last of a royal line and if she dies Duradis becomes Emperor."

"That does make sense but…never mind. I'll confront him and have him cancel the contract. I need you to go to your sister and help protect my daughter."

"Are you sure about this? What if he tries something?"

"One scream from me and six centurions will burst into the room to see what's wrong. But just in case…" Veritas handed Dipper a tablet. "This contains a copy of the original Sacred Writings. I was going to tell Stellara everything after the ceremony and give this to her. If something does happen to me give this to her and tell her what I told you."

Dipper placed the tablet in his coat. "I'll treat like it was my journal which was very special to me. Good luck Veritas."

"And good fortune to you Dipper. I do hope you will save your friend. When this over I can talk to Stellara. She will be so grateful for what you did she'll overturn her father's decree."

Gideon went from room to room trying to find Pacifica. When he opened one door, he stepped back leaving it open just a crack because he recognized the man inside as one who one year ago believed Gideon had died. "Congratulations on your promotion Lieutenant." A female stone centurion with red crystals growing out of her head.

"I'm still don't know if I deserve it Rubya."

"Of course, you do sir."

"Not sure if I can get used you calling me sir. We both started in basic training together."

Rubya slammed the bottoms of her fists together. "Please don't deny me the right to praise a fellow Orebaro warrior for his achievements. You lead the squad that killed three heretics, an assassin, and exposed a corrupt governor. You earned your rank. I just hope to catch up to you someday old friend."

Gideon closed the door and saw Pacifica at the end of the hall before she walked to the next. "Guys!" Gideon said into his com. "I found her. She's making her way east from the west wing! I'll keep following her!"

"Gideon have you heard from Mabel? She's not answering her com!" Dipper asked.

"No. Mabel my sweet what are you doing?"

Duradis entered his office and walked up to window seeing his black uniform with silver medals reflected at him. He looked out to gardens with a pair of binoculars. He found Stellara, soon his plans would come to fruition. The Diagia member he spoke to was insistent that he would help her escape since she is the best they have and they he didn't want to lose such an asset. Duradis would do the best he could since the Felggur was going to be his soon but if he couldn't it would be no big loss. Imperium science will give him many more just as good as her. He saw the assassin right there…no wait, the hair was the wrong color. Who was this woman? The office door opened, and Veritas came in. "You are not the voice yet. You are not permitted in here." Duradis said with contempt.

Veritas slammed the door behind her. "I know what you're planning Duradis! You hired a felggur to kill my daughter. I am giving you one chance to cancel the contract before I call the guards! The Fenari will be sure to expose your lies!"

Duradis had an indignant look on his face. "I never liked you. You think that just because you were a convenient womb for Emperor Grandus you can speak above your station! How did you find out?"

"The so-called heretics Grandus declared destroyed the rest of the felggur and told me what you plan to do. Now cancel that contract! Also, I know why you are doing this, you want to be emperor. But what I can't understand is how. How can you betray your faith and kill someone you believe to be the manifestation of the will of the universe?"

"You just answered my question for me when you said, 'you believe'. You are trusting heretics because you don't believe your daughter is divine either. A Child of Cosmodius? I thought you were all wiped out. As for me you can't betray a faith you no longer have, or perhaps I never had. I'm not sure." Before she knew what was going on was Veritas lifted by the throat off the floor just with Duradis' right hand. "It all started thirty years ago when I was a young officer and I lost this hand. Looks real doesn't it? It's illegal to have an unregistered cybernetic enhancement like this but I digress. It wasn't even in battle, just a random accident on base. I learned that day the universe has no will, it is chaotic and cruel, and order can only be achieved by those with the power and will to impose it and I vowed to be such a man! Grandus wasn't gathering enough power! The Imperium still cannot defeat the Trans-Galactic Confederacy or the Fanmarx Order alone! I tried to encourage him to gather more territory and resources, but he insisted finishing the conquest of this galaxy first! Even as Regent I cannot do what must be done because only the Emperor can declare a new front. But I should thank you Veritas." Veritas tried to pry herself lose but Durdis' hand was too strong. He was choking her to death. "You gave me the two things I needed most. By giving birth to Stellara you made it so I could go from a mere advisor to Regent and by telling me about the humans being here I have the perfect people to take the blame for her death." He unceremoniously dropped Veritas' body on the floor and picked his binoculars to watch the moment he would become emperor.

Mabel had continued to tell Stellara the stories of the Mystery Twins. The girl couldn't get enough of them. "…and a masked figure came out of the machine placing a six-fingered hand on Journal #1 he picked it up and placed it in his coat. Pine Tree asked 'What? Who is that?' The man took of his mask and had the same face as Grunkle Moonfish. Grunkle Moonfish said 'The Author of the Journals. My brother.'"

"Grunkle Moonfish had a twin brother? I never expected that!" Stellara said jumping up and down.

She stopped as soon as Pacifica walked up. "Eliminate the target." Pacifica then thought. "_Mabel, kill me! Don't let me do this!" _For a split second when Pacifica looked at Stellara she saw herself at six years old.

"Stellara run!" Mabel yelled.

Pacifica twirled her daggers and then connected them at their hilts which lengthened to Pacifica's height. The blades spilt open to three points turning her two daggers into a double-bladed trident. "Must eliminate…the target!" Pacifica said.

Stellara screamed and ran. Pacifica tried to chase her, but a grappling hook snagged her weapon. "Pacifica the diagia are all gone! You don't have to obey them anymore."

"Felggur most obey the client…until the mission is complete!" Pacifica said as she pulled the hook off.

Gideon came running in and tackled Pacifica. "Why did you turn off your com Mabel?" Pacifica struggled to throw the muscular teen off her. "Ixcia how long until she snaps out of it?" Gideon was also struggling keep his grip on Pacifica.

"Ten to fifteen minutes. I am already on the way."

"Great." Gideon said before Pacifica elbowed him in the stomach.

Stellara ran all the way to the palace until she ran into a group of four guards. "Help! In the garden! She had knives!"

"You two stay here with the Empress!" Buckgis said.

"And call in reinforcements!" Rubya added.

Back at the garden Pacifica broke free. "Where…is…the Empress?"

"That doesn't matter now Pacifica you can come home now." Gideon said. Pacifica kicked him down.

"Must return…shadow cradle! Complete…mission." Pacifica turned toward Mabel.

"Those cradle things are gone now. Pacifica just hold on!" Mabel said as Pacifica tried to stab her.

Dipper flew in just in time and grabbed Pacifica's weapon with his gauntlet. "Just a few more minutes and this nightmare is over Pacifica. I promise!"

Duradis was not happy. The Empress had to have found a guard by now and there was a dead body in his office. The assassination was a failure, but he could still make the most of this situation. With Veritas dead the position of Voice was now open. He just had to secure his own alibi and the human with the gauntlet was perfect for it. Duradis put down his binoculars down and opened the window. And then he went outside his office. Duradis hated that he would have to make a mess and ruin his antique furniture, but he needed to go through his actions perfectly for what he would say to the fenari investigators. First, he used his cybernetic hand to break down the door, then he hit his bookcase. After that he smashed his desk in two and then turned to face the entrance. This would not be fun, but he'd secure his alibi and place the blame on the human. Duradis used his cybernetic fist to hit his own face hard giving him a bloody nose and his right eye swollen shut as he fell onto the remains of the desk. Even though he was in pain he was satisfied that he was in perfect view Veritas' body. Now all he had to do was wait for when someone would come to report the assassination attempt.

Pacifica threw Dipper against a nearby tree. "Those who…interfere…must be…eliminated!" she said tears running down her face.

"Almost there! Everyone, rush her!" Dipper said.

Mabel wrapped her cable around Pacifica's legs. "You're not alone! We're all here for you Pacifica. It's time we all go home together!"

Gideon grappled Pacifica's left arm and forced her to stab her trident into the ground. "We promised each other to help each other be better people. This is me keeping that promise. A Raider never leaves a comrade behind!"

Dipper took hold of Pacifica's right arm with his gauntlet and turn her face toward his. "You're are almost there Pacifica! Look at me. No will ever control you again I swear it!"

Pacifica screamed. Her head felt like flaming needles were being push out of her skull and the wall in her mind shattered. Her eyes opened clear. She looked at her friends seeing how she and they have grown all this time. "It's really over. I…I can make my own choices again! None of those stupid laws mean anything to me! I'm like totally free!"

Pacifica's friends let her go and she leaned against her trident. "Maybe you should put that away." Gideon suggested.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." With a simple twist the trident split in two and retracted back into her daggers which she sheathed.

"I don't know about you guys but this whole thing has left me exhausted." Mabel said.

"Try going three against one. But this is a fight I am glad I lost."

Dipper breathed a sigh of relief. "No, I say we all won and the felggur lost."

No sooner than Dipper said that the humans were surrounded by centurions. "Don't move! You are all…wait a minute. You three should be dead!" Buckgis said.

Gideon slapped his forehead. "Right with everything that was going on I forgot to tell you that Buckgis is here."

Pacifica held up her hands. "Listen I know I scared the girl, but I wasn't in my right mind until a few seconds ago."

Rubya walked right up to Pacifica. "Your state of mind doesn't matter heretic!" Rubya took Pacifica's arm whose eyes glazed over as she twisted the rock woman arm followed by a sweep kick.

After that Pacifica's eyes went back to normal. "I don't why I did that." As soon as she said this Buckgis used his stun stick on Pacifica shocking her unconscious.

"No, Pacifica!" Dipper knelt to pick her up and noticed a small object fell out of the bag on the back of her belt.

"Lieutenant, reports are coming in of a ship breaking into the palace air space! Our patrol ships are having a hard time shooting it down! It will be over the palace in two minutes!" a centurion reported to Buckgis.

Dipper held the item in the palm of his hand for Mabel and Gideon to see. "We've spent too many years trying to find each other! It's not going to end like this!"

Buckgis readied his weapon. "And what do you think you can do heretic?"

"This!" Dipper threw down the flash disk as he, Gideon, and Mabel covered their eyes. All the guards around were unable to move as Ixica flew in and hovered above them opening her cargo bay door while Imperium patrol ships continued to fire at her. Dipper picked Pacifica up bridal style and used his boosters to fly to Ixcia followed by Mabel using her grappling hook to zip up and Gideon with his rocket pack. Ixcia closed the door and flew off with the other ships still in pursuit.

"Ixcia get us out of here!" Gideon said.

Mabel took Pacifica from Dippers arms. "I'll take her to sick bay! You two go to the bridge!"

As Dipper and Gideon got to the bridge Gideon took tactical shooting down two patrol ships as two cruisers came in. Dipper took the helm trying to shake them off. "Shields at 9%" Ixcia reported.

"How long until we can leave the atmosphere?" Dipper asked.

"Ten minutes. Shields now at 3%. Estimated hull breach in eight minutes."

"Take that!" Gideon shouted as he disabled a cruiser. "We got to get away! For every ship we shoot down two more starts shooting!

Mabel ran in taking engineering. "Pacifica is secure in sick bay."

"Ixcia can we jump in the atmosphere?" Dipper asked as some of the floor blew. Soostron came in and began repairs.

"Yes, but the sequence will take longer." Ixcia said.

"Do it!" Mabel yelled.

"Hyper jump in 10…9…8...7…6… shields have failed…4…3…2 …1." Jumping in the atmosphere made a shockwave that pushed the Imperium's ships back as Ixcia left Celestio behind.

Back at the palace a female fenari entered Durdis's office along with a celestanite centurion. "Regent Duradis please tell her what you told me." The centurion asked.

Duradis began to say the words he prepared. "The door was broken down from the outside. Then the bookcase was broken." He spoke struggling with his injury just as he planned. "I was hit falling on the desk." He made sure to leave out that the desk was broken first. Duradis laid down like he was reenacting how he wanted the fenari to think he saw what happened next. He pointed to Veritas' body. "Her attacker stood there and choked her with his right hand." He knew if he wasn't specific about who the attacker was the fenari would feel he was telling the truth. It was about saying only the facts that he needed her to hear.

"One of the heretics was wearing a power gauntlet. He had to be the one to have done this." The centurion said.

"He is telling the truth of course." The investigator agreed.

"Mother?" Stellara entered the room.

The centurion tried to keep her out. "Empress please you do not want see…"

Stellara slipped passed him and ran to her mothers' body. "Mother no!" Stellara began to sob uncontrollably.

"I am so sorry my holiness." The investigator said.

"How? Why?" Stellara cried.

"It was one of the heretics. The human our records name Mason Pines." The centurion said. "As for why we cannot say."

The young girl was confused. "But, the lady with the brown hair. She told me such amazing stories. Ones I wanted to share with mother. How can one of her friends do this?"

"Please leave the two of us." Duradis asked. "What I must say to her is for her alone."

"Yes Regent." They both said and left the room.

Duradis turned the child empress toward him making sure she looked him in the eyes, even the black one. "Your highness, the man who killed your mother wanted to use her to get you to lift your father's decree about his people. They are heretics and your father knew the universe wanted them destroyed. When she refused to do what he wanted he killed her. The woman who told you those stories was his sister. She was distracting you."

"What for?"

"So that you couldn't help her. This Mabel Pines knew the universe would tell you they would hurt your mother."

"Her stories about strange and amazing things. Surprises that lead to adventures."

"Does this seem like a nice surprise? This heretic woman was trying to confuse you with lies. Order is the most important thing in the universe and these heretics will stop at nothing tear it down. Everything your parents worked so hard for."

Stellara shook with anger. "She was a liar! They all should die for what they did!"

"And they will my Empress. We will all see to that."

Stellara began to cry again. "But what do I do now? Mother was supposed to be my Voice. Who can do that now? I'm all alone."

Duradis patted the child on the back. "I know tradition says that the Voice should be a family member, but your father was my dear friend. As close to me as if he was my own brother."

"Would you be my new Voice?" Stellara said with a sniff.

"Of course, Empress Stellara. Let your Uncle Duradis take care of everything. Now wipe away your tears. Your subjects need to see you strong." Things did not go as Durdis planned but with him as both Regent and Voice of the Stars he was practically emperor himself and the grieving child before him could easily become his puppet when she becomes of age. In eleven years, she will do for him what he needs her do. Today was a success either way. However, he then realized there was one problem. The humans knew of his plan and took the felggur with them. They could still expose his part in the assassination plot. _"I must take steps to make sure they don't expose me."_ He thought.

It had been a few hours after their escape and the most critical repairs were finished but they would be fixing damage for days. When Pacifica woke up Dipper was standing by her bed in sick bay. "Dipper? It wasn't a dream. I really am free." Pacifica said. "Where are we?"

"We're on our ship, the Ixcia, your new home until we get back to earth. I'll give you the grand tour." Dipper held out his hand.

Pacifica took it all in and stood up. "It feels strange, being in complete control of my body again. Moving when I want to and not only when I need to complete a task or I need to eat, sleep, or use the bathroom. Where are Mabel and Gideon?"

"Gideon is with our repair robot Soostron. Ixcia took a bit of beating getting us out of there. Mabel said she was making a surprise for everyone."

"Now that has me a little worried."

"In any case as you can guess this is sick bay. And our first stop are the living quarters. Mabel picked out a room for you."

"A room of my own for the first time in four years." Pacifica sighed.

Back on Celestio Duradis had called Buckgis to the throne room. Stellara was sitting on the Diamond Throne. "It is an honor to be your presence again Empress." Buckgis said as he knelt.

Stellara remained silent trying to hold back her tears. "Her grace is understandably in mourning so she will not say much right now." Duradis said. "You were promoted recently because of an incident where we were led to believe three of the heretics have died."

"I too was deceived. If you wish to demote me for my failure this day, I accept that."

Duradis tapped the ceremonial halberd of the emperor against the floor. "This is the third time you encountered these humans. If there is any punishment it is that you can no longer avenge yourself against them. You will have a position of greater prestige and responsibility. If anything, this incident has shown us all that we must be ever more vigilant of possible threats. Two of the humans were near the Empress! This can't never happen again! So, you are to be assigned as Empress Stellara's personal bodyguard. You are to protect her even at the cost of your life." Duradis looked at Buckgis' shock stick. "I suggest that you get a more lethal weapon. I believe you Orebaro train with to use Elec-Warhammers."

"Yes sir." Buckgis then looked at Stellara. "Forgive me for addressing above my station your grace but since we will be spending a lot of time together I just want to say that as long as I am at your side you can talk to me about anything and you are not be alone in your pain."

"Stellara got off the throne and held Buckgis' hand. "Thank you." she whispered.

Duradis interrupted. "Yes, but now we have a ceremony and an announcement to prepare for."

Dipper and Pacifica came in from engineering. "And this is the common area where we have our meals, relax, and where Mabel and I had our schooling. Gideon still has his lessons here." Dipper said.

"Happy Thanksgiving!" Mabel said with her arms spread out over a table full of food. Gideon was already sitting down.

"I knew you were planning something when you insisted that I show this room last, but I think you're off by several months."

"But we finally got Pacifica back. We have so much to be thankful for! We should celebrate!"

Ixcia's avatar appeared. "I have an alternative. Since you had to focus on your mission, I did not tell you that today it has been exactly four years since you and Dipper first came aboard."

"A Thanksgiving/Anniversary party. Either way we got plenty to eat."

Pacifica stopped herself from drooling. "I'm fine with it. I've had nothing but these gross algae bars for four years."

"We all know how awful those are." Dipper said. "Okay but first I need to do something that we've been waiting to do for a long time." Dipper took out his scantrix. "Ixcia, update crew manifest." He scanned Pacifica. "Now just tell Ixcia your name."

"Pacifica." she said.

"And now you are officially part of the crew." Gideon said. "Now let's dig in."

The four friends sat, ate, drank, and talked. "And then the Rofaxian asked me how I could have won our bet and I told him my species doesn't molt our skin. Easiest Quan I ever made and all because he thought he could make easy money off me." Dipper said.

Pacific almost choked on her apa tea and then laughed. "Oh, I wish I had stories to share like that when we get home."

"Well we still don't know where our own galaxy is in relation to this one, so you got time to make some of your own."

Ixcia then spoke. "Regarding finding your planet there is something I never told any of you since you said you would not leave this galaxy without your friends. I lack the ability to travel to other galaxies. If you wish me to do this, I will need a jump drive with a component called a quantum infuser."

"Could we build one?" Gideon asked.

"The construction of these infusers requires a specialized facility. Most of which are under Imperium control. Part of the reason the Imperium is so powerful is because they first attack any civilization with the technology in a galaxy and control it completely ensuring that only they can get supplies and reinforcements of other galaxies. They restrict the installation of these devices to their ships on an as needed basis. The only permanent infuser is in the global engines."

"And even if we saved the Empress, I doubt they would give it to us." Dipper said.

Mabel asked a question. "What about the black market? If the Imperium outlaws this thing then somebody must have stolen one. Maybe we could buy it."

"If a quantum infuser is on the black market it would most likely cost hundreds of megaquan at least."

Dipper sighed. "Which is way out of our price range. We've spent most of what we had over this week."

"We'll find a way." Mabel said.

Pacifica raised her glass. "You can count on my help."

There was a beeping while Ixcia's eye flashed. "There is an Imperium news broadcast about what happened today."

"Show us." Dipper said as Ixcia switched to display mode.

The Soothsayer program appeared. "This is an Eyes on the Imperium special report. Today the planed Naming of the Voice ceremony was delayed because a brazen assassination attempt on Empress Stellara. While the Empress was unharmed her mother was brutally murdered."

"Veritas!" Dipper yelled as he jumped out of his seat. "I met her. She wanted to help and was going to confront Duradis! He must have killed her!" He then pulled out the tablet in his coat. "She wanted me to give this to Stellara but with everything that was happening I completely forgot!"

"Dipper I'm so sorry, it sounds like she may have been becoming a friend to you." Pacifica said.

Mabel place her hand on Dipper's shoulder. "You did nothing wrong. There was no way you could have kept that promise. I just feel sorry for Stellara; I've spent some time with her. She's a good girl. She must be heart broken."

The Soothsayer continued. "The murder was carried out by one of the assassins. A group of four who belong to a heretic species. The killer was identified by Regent Durdis who witnessed the crime."

"He's framing us! That dirty stinking rat!" Gideon was slammed his cup on the table.

"The criminals are still at large; we now go live to the Palace Plaza."

The feed switched to plaza the group was at earlier that day but the camera focus on the large balcony. Stellara was standing while Duradis knelt. Buckgis was right behind Stellara. "I, Empress Stellara, ruler of the Grand Cosmic Imperium, name you Duradis to be the Voice of the Stars. To speak to the Royal Court my will, the will of the universe, until the day I fully ascend to the throne."

"I humbly except." Durdis answered as he stood up.

"He got what he wanted despite everything we did." Dipper growled.

Stellara angrily looked at the camera. "I hope the heretics are watching because I have something to say to the man who killed my mother and his sister who lied to me!"

Mabel looked like her heart had been crushed. "Duradis, he's manipulating her."

"You will pay for what you did. There is nowhere you can go that you will be safe. We are the people of truth and order and we will kill you and all your kind."

Duradis spoke next. "On your display are the images of the heretic assassins." The faces of the four members of the Ixcia crew appeared. "They are now the most wanted criminals in the Imperium and now have a bounty of 10 megaquan each. They were last seen escaping in a Star Singer mark three cargo ship. If you see these beings report them to the Imperium authorities immediately." The display closed.

"Well this makes things a lot harder for us." Gideon said. "Still glad you're back with us Pacifica?"

"Of course, you're my friends, and you gave me my life back. It's not your fault some jerk is making things hard for us. I'm sure with my help we'll get what we need to go home in two, three years tops.

Eleven years later,

"Obviously, I underestimated how long it would take for us to get back." Pacifica said. "It's ironic. The day that I was no longer a puppet another girl became one."

Preston sat down and placed his head in his hand. "When you were born, I swore to give you a life of luxury and what did you get? Kidnapped, brainwashed, and forced on the run."

Priscilla stood by her husband and took his hand. "Those certainly were not the kinds of worries I had about you when you became a teenager. I was more worried about you going to wild parties, hanging out with bad boys, and drinking. Although it turns out I'm the one we should have been worried about with the last one."

"Actually, I did have one night like that on my eighteenth birthday." Pacifica said sheepishly. "It was the closest I got to feeling like a regular teenage girl in years."

"What?" her parents asked.

Dipper got a smile on his face. "Your eighteenth. The first birthday present I ever gave you. I was nervous that I would mess it up."

"It was one of my most memorable birthdays. It was the day that I began to see Mabel as my sister even before Mason and I married." Pacifica smiled but then took a breath. "To understand why things happened like this you need to know something about me. A week after I came aboard, and the euphoria of my freedom wore off we noticed that I was having some problems. As you know my reflexes were reconditioned and we learned that they would be like that for the rest of my life. Also, the guilt of all the people I killed haunted me, I had terrible nightmares every night. This led me to be afraid to leave the ship for fear of unintentionally killing someone just because they would accidently bump into me."

Dipper tried to reassure the Northwests. "Fortunately, Ixcia's directive to look after the wellbeing of her crew includes our mental health so she has psycho therapeutic subroutines."

Preston had a concerned look on his face. "Your ships' computer is my daughter's psychiatrist?"

Pacifica held her father's hand. "I still have private sessions with her once a week, but at first it was twice a week. They were very helpful and I'm afraid to think of where I would be without them. And if wasn't for Ixcia's advice I might not have seen just how wonderful a friend Mabel is. A few months after I came aboard, she noticed a couple of new problems I was having."

Eleven years ago,

A few months after the events on Celestio a green floor mat was laid on the cargo bay floor. Pacifica insisted on getting it so she could spar with the others. "Mabel keep your elbow up." Pacifica said. Mabel threw a punch that Pacifica blocked who then tripped her. "Look at my eyes. No matter if it's a punch or a kick I have to see where I'm aiming."

Dipper and Gideon were also there rubbing sore spots. "Do we really have to do this every day?" Dipper asked.

"It's good exercise. Except for you Dipper this crew relies too much on long ranged attacks. If someone gets close it could be bad. So, we have to train every day."

Mabel got up. "But that is almost all you do."

Pacifica got her usual annoyed look. "Hey, I pull my weight around here! Since I was raised to take over my family business, I've been balancing the books finding ways to save money, I help with repairs, and I do my shifts on the bridge!"

"That's not what I mean Pacifica. I'm not saying you're lazy, I'm saying you don't have any fun! Since you got here all you've done is work and train! Since that evaluation you took Ixcia said you didn't need her to give you more schooling. You only left the ship once and that was to unload cargo. I know you're afraid of hurting someone, but you can't let that keep you from having fun."

"Just because you turned eighteen a few weeks ago doesn't mean you can tell me what to do! You may have your birthday before mine, but we are the same age!"

Gideon tried to stop a fight from breaking out. "Pacifica, you never told me when your birthday is."

Pacifica took a breath and calmed down. "I'm sorry guys. My birthday is September 15th."

Mabel muttered to herself and did some counting on her fingers before gasping. "Oh. My. Gosh! That's tomorrow! Pacifica you're going to be eighteen! This is the perfect chance for you to have some fun! We'll arrive at Kodex station tomorrow. After we unload the ore that we're hauling you and I can have a girl's night out! Me and Dipper have been there a couple of times while we were looking for Gideon, so I know some great places. We can go to a salon and get ourselves looking great, shop for some new clothes, and go dancing at a great club called Prism!"

"Dancing? I…it's time for my next session with Ixcia. I'm going to my room." Pacifica rolled up the mat and put in one of the cargo bay lockers.

"Pacifica, wait!" Mabel said as Pacifica went up the lift. She then turned to Dipper and Gideon. "At the very least we can get her some birthday presents."

Dipper tapped his chin. "We only have a day, but I think I have something that can give me an idea for one."

Gideon raised his hand. "I have an idea for one, but I'll need to get a closer look Pacifica's daggers but if I asked her for them it would ruin the surprise."

"Why don't you say it's for school? I'm sure she wouldn't mind."

"Not a bad idea. What are you going give her Mabel?"

"I'm still hoping to take her on a girl's night out."

In her room Pacifica was laying on her bed talking to Ixcia. There wasn't much in her room yet, but it was perfect for privacy. "Doesn't she realize that one wrong touch could lead to someone's death? A crowded space station is the last place I need to be out and about."

Ixcia was on display. "Mabel only wants to help you to enjoy yourself and your reflexes may not be as lethal as you first thought. I must apologize, I ran an experiment without your knowledge in order to better your treatment. Soostron has been under my instructions triggering you reflexes."

"That's why he's been sneaking up on me?" Pacifica's annoyed twitch came back.

"Out of all of the encounters only three resulted in damage that would be instantly lethal to a humanoid and they all have one commonality. In all three instances you were holding your weapons, the rest were a series of body blows, throws, and choke holds that will not result in death if you regain control within thirty seconds." Ixcia displayed all the times Pacifica attacked the robot.

"Now I feel guilty for all the beat downs I gave the little pile of nuts and bolts."

"He repaired himself each time and cannot feel pain. Soostron was eager to help. This shows that with a friend close by the worst you would do injure a person if you are not holding your weapons in which case you may need your reflexes in such a situation. In time you may even be able to hold yourself back even with your weapons. This 'girl's night out' Mabel plans can be an opportunity to regain confidence in your own decision making."

"You didn't tell them about that did you?"

"Doctor patient confidentiality is part of my programing. You will at some point have to go out among other people especially when you return to Earth. What Mabel is offering could be a first step that could be enjoyable. Why not take advantage of it?"

"I guess it won't help to put it off. And I am tired of staring at the same walls all the time. No offense Ixcia."

"None taken."

"I'll do it. Thanks, Ixcia."

"You are welcome. Now let's practice your breathing technique. Cross your arms and place your hands on your chest." Pacifica did so. "Take a deep breath to draw in the light." She breathed in. "Now slowly breath out expelling the anxiety." Pacifica breathed out. "Repeat saying your mantra. The Felggur no longer control you. You are the one in control of you."

"I am in control of me. I am in control of me."

Dipper was watching a log he made a few months ago in his room. "Hi Pacifica." Dipper's past self said holding the scantrix in video mode.

"Dipper what are you doing?" Pacifica asked in the common area.

"Someday people will want to know about our journey so I've been keeping a log and I thought they should get to know somethings about you."

"Like, what exactly?"

"Well we've been in space for a long time. Is there something you miss?"

Pacifica thought for a moment. "Sunsets. On my parents' boat I always loved the view of the sunset over the lake."

Dipper paused the log. _"That's it, now I just hope I can do it. But I've been around Mabel long enough that at least some of her talent rubbed off me."_

Pacifica found Mabel and Gideon on the bridge. "Mabel, I want to apologize. You tried do something for nice me and I just freaked out. I was just afraid I would hurt someone that I just ran away. I'm sorry."

"It's alright Pacifica. I did come on a little strong. It's your birthday, we should do what you want. I just thought I planned to do things you like. While you don't think looks are the most important thing anymore you still like looking good. I know you like to shop, and you've just been cleaning the same jumpsuit you wear every day and you love fashion so I thought we could look at some alien ones. And we first met at a party even though we were competing with each other I knew you were having fun singing and dancing." Mabel said from the helm.

"Well I just talked with Ixcia and I just found out if someone is with me to snap me out of it then things should be fine as long as don't have my daggers in my hand. So, I changed my mind, I would love to have a girl's night out.

"Great!" Mabel had a big smile. "And don't worry I'll make sure nothing happens."

"Thanks." Pacifica said as she sat down at navigation.

"Hey Pacifica, can you help me with something?" Gideon asked from engineering.

"Sure, what do you need?"

"I need to scan your daggers. If how they become that trident works how I think it works, it might explain something in my schoolwork I have trouble understanding."

"We can do it after we're done here."

"Thank you." Gideon smiled knowing he could build what he needs to build in just a few hours and Pacifica heading out would be the perfect time to do so.

The next day Pacifica opened the door to her room to a "Happy Birthday!" from her friends. The rest of the day was mostly routine until they finished unloading the cargo. "Okay guys, we'll be back in a few hours. We'll have our new clothes sent back here but don't you touch them. Soostron you will take them up to our rooms." Mabel said as the girls stepped out of the Ixcia.

Dipper gave a nod. "Right, call us when you're on the way back."

Gideon waved them off. "You two have fun and we'll check to on any job offers and finish the regular maintenance."

"Right, and you two try not to blow up the ship while we're gone" Pacifica joked.

As the girls walked off Dipper turned to Gideon. "Right so you got what you need for your present?"

"I'll have them finished in under an hour if I don't run into any trouble." Gideon said.

"Great." Dipper picked up the spectral painter. "If you need me, I'll be in Pacifica's room and no I am not going to do anything weird."

As they walked to a hover cab station Mabel asked. "So, what kind of treatment you want to have at the salon?"

"Well it's been like, forever since I had my nails done so a mani-pedi is a must and while the vibra-cleaner gets dirt out of your hair it doesn't feel as good as a shampoo."

"Oh, I haven't had my hair shampooed in years!" Mabel said excited as they reached the cab station.

Elsewhere on Kodex station Vax was fighting another bounty hunter. "So, you figured out they would come here too." Vax said dodging a punch.

The opposing bounty hunter was as large as Manly Dan with yellow skin and webbed hands. "That forty megaquan is mine!"

A jet fired from Vax's cybernetic leg sending him flying into his opponent. "This is about more than money for me Torfol. It's personal." Vax then used is mechanical arm to knock his opponent out.

In the salon the girls were having their nails done. Mabel's were being painted red while Pacifica's were hot pink. "And now it's time for the shampoo." Pacifica said taking off the band that held her hair in a ponytail. The rinse went well but when the stylist began to scrub Pacifica's hair her eyes glazed over, and she reached up and began to choke him.

"Pacifica no! It's okay!" Mabel yelled.

Pacifica let go. "I am so sorry! I just get spooked easily if you take it slow it won't happen again." she told the stylist. The stylist just nodded and after clearing his throat he continued.

Later they were making their way to a dress shop. "Well Ixcia was right. The guy was a little freaked out, but no one was hurt." Mabel said.

Pacifica looked up seeing the part of city above them. "Ixcia also said that I'll get greater control over time but for now it's best that I'm chaperoned when I'm in public."

"We are all going to there for you Pacifica every step of the way." Mabel opened the door to shop.

"Welcome how can I help you ladies?" The store clerk asked.

"We'd like to look at some dresses." Mabel said.

"And I would also like to purchase some new underwear." Pacifica said and then turned to Mabel and said. "The bras my… former employers issued me are itchy and the panties ride up."

"Of course." The clerk said.

"So how does this work? All I see are white rolls of cloth."

"Oh, you pick a clothing pattern and colors and they have a machine that colors, cuts, and stiches the outfit."

The clerk then chimed in. "What makes this store better than most is we have changing rooms equipped with holo-projectors that can overlay the image of the outfit over your body so you can see what you look like in it."

"Pacifica we should have our own fashion show."

"Why not." Pacifica said.

The two got into a changing room and stripped down to their underwear. Mabel held up a tablet. "Okay, Pacifica you want new underwear lets pick that first." Mabel tapped a few pictures and the projectors made it look like Pacifica was in different underwear. "What do you think?"

"I would like it in my other favorite color, Periwinkle."

"So that's why you wore it all the time." The color changed.

"Better but I always wanted try some lacier panties." They were changed. "It looks good. But holograms can't tell you how the fabric fells. Do you think the clerk will let me try on a sample?"

Mable was smiling. "I'm sure she will. I got to say you make that look very sexy. You are going to make a guy very lucky." Then Mabel thought. _"Probably my brother."_ She continued to speak. "I am glad to finally have another girl; no, we are both women now; another woman on ship to talk about feminine things. Dipper listens but you will understand."

Pacifica took a deep breath. "I… of course I'll talk to about that kind of stuff. But as far as being sexy and being with someone I'm not sure if I ever will. It could be a long time before I can even let a guy kiss me without breaking his bones but worse the felggur made me take guys to second base to kill them. I don't know if…I can be with a guy and not think about what I did. I haven't even talked about this with Ixcia yet."

Mabel got a determined look on her face. "Pacifica I am a big believer in love, and I will not stand here let what the felggur did to you steal away your happiness! You just got to keep working on healing yourself and some day you will be with the man you love, and you'll be so happy your past won't even cross you mind. So, let's look at some pretty dress that will drive guys wild, buy them, and have a good time!"

"Right but first was there any particular feminine issue you want to talk about since you brought it up?"

Mabel cupped her breasts. "Well since I've been growing without other human girls to compare to, I have been worried that I might be small compared to other women."

Pacifica then cupped her breasts. "My mom talked to me about cup sizes when I had to start wearing my training bra. You are about the same size as me and I know I'm a C cup. Not the biggest made but the second largest of the most made sizes. You said I looked sexy well so do you."

After that they tried different outfits; laughing with some that were cube shaped or had big rings on them, but they made their purchases. Pacifica got some extras of her jumpsuit made, she and Mabel each picked three dresses for dates, and of course Pacifica got her new underwear. "Just send them to our ship at landing pad 32." Mabel said.

Pacifica came out of the changing room. "Except for this set of underwear that I'm wearing out. I just couldn't stand the old ones anymore."

"Of course, Miss and I hope you come to us again." The clerk said.

Back on Ixcia Dipper just stepped out of Pacifica's room. "So, are you finished?" Gideon asked.

"Yes, and I have to say that I am proud of my work." Dipper said.

"Me too, although my gift is just something practical. What you made has more meaning. I'm sure she'll love it."

Dipper blushed a little. "I'm just wanted to give her something nice. What you made could save her life someday."

"Maybe. I wonder what are they doing right now?"

"They probably are at the club by now. Say Gideon how about after our next job you and I have a guy's night out?"

The interior of Prism was made to look crystal that emitted different colors of light. The dance floor was a lot like the floor of old disco back on earth. Mabel and Pacifica danced to pulsing music as the color of the room kept changing. "This is so much fun! Right Pacifica?"

"Yeah, this is the most fun I've had in a long time!" Pacifica did a backflip. The girls didn't notice that Vax had entered the club and sat down at a table with his back to the dance floor and ordered a drink.

"Great! Let's see if you can do this move." Mabel took a few steps and did a short slide and came out of it in a twirl.

"Easy." Pacifica did they exact same moves ending her twirl in front a turtle like alien. Suddenly she had a flash of memory. In one of her assassinations she did the same thing in front of another member of this species before she killed the poor woman. Pacifica screamed and back peddled from the dancer.

"Well I don't think mammals look that attractive either." The turtle man said.

"Pacifica are you okay?" Mabel asked.

"I…I don't want to dance anymore." Pacifica shook.

"What's wrong?"

"I was just like this one time I…I am in control of me. I am in control of me." After a couple of minutes Pacifica calmed down. "Mabel I am supposed to be making my own decisions tonight. How about I go to bar a pick a couple of drinks for us? You keep dancing, don't let me keep you from having fun."

Mabel looked Pacifica in the eyes. "Are you sure?"

"I never went after anyone in a bar. I'm sure I'll be fine. I'll even try to pick something fun for us to drink."

Reassured Mabel smiled. "Okay I'll join you after the next song."

Pacifica made her way to the bar that was still to Vax's back. The bartender was a pink gelatinous alien. "Know what you want?"

"Uh do you have a menu?" Pacifica asked. The bartender handed her a tablet with a camera like device. A blue light passed over her from it and it displayed several drinks.

"Doesn't let you order anything poisonous to you." The bartender said.

Pacifica scrolled through a few options until she found a drink that was yellow on the edges but blue in the middle in a star shaped glass. "This looks fun. I'll have one and I'll also order one for my friend on the dance floor."

"Star Blaster huh? Good choice!" The pink blob did some mixing and served the drink. "1.5 Centaquan."

Pacifica paid and took a sip. "Wow this great!" Pacifica downed the glass. "Another, please. Hic."

A few minutes later the song finished, and Mabel stopped dancing. "Woo! That was great but yeah, I'm thirsty. Better join Pacifica." When Mabel got to the bar Pacifica was nowhere to be seen. "Excuse me my friend should be waiting for me here."

"The blonde right?" The bartender asked. "She left a few minutes ago staggering out. I've never seen anyone get that drunk on three Star Blasters."

"What!?" Mabel shouted drawing Vax's attention. "She's just turned eighteen! Back home she wouldn't be served alcohol until she was twenty-one! Don't you check I.D.'s?"

The bartender looked insulted. "Do you have any idea how many species with different tolerances live on this station? The best we can do make sure no one orders anything deadly. It says so right on the sign above the bar. All customers are responsible to avoid intoxication."

Mabel looked up at the sign with small print. "You need to stand on a chair to read that sign! Never mind, I got to find my friend!"

"She got you one. Don't you want it?"

"No!" As Mabel ran out her thoughts raced. _"I was supposed to look after her! What a time to find out Pacifica can't hold her liquor!"_

Vax got up. "If I follow her, she'll lead me to the others."

Pacifica walked down the street swaying from one side to another. "Whut shhould I do nehext?" Pacifica slurred as she bumped into Torfol.

"Well look who I ran into. You are going to make me ten Megaquan richer."

Pacifica looked at the man with a grumpy face. "If you want mah further's money din you gotta puta a dis fingur." Pacifica pointed to her left middle finger. "No dis one." She then pointed to her left ring finger.

"You're drunk off your ass. Didn't think it would be this easy." Torfol grabbed Pacifica by the waist and her eyes glazed over. She grabbed his wrists crossing her arms and then jumped above his head performing a double corkscrew and made a perfect landing. Her conditioned reflexes worked perfectly despite her intoxicated condition. Torfol screamed in pain as he landed on his back. "My arms!"

A few nearby people came to see what was happening. However, Pacifica didn't notice them as she caught a scent in the air. "Somethin' smells gud." Pacifica followed the scent down an alley to a food cart with some fried sticks of some kind. Pacifica's stomach growled. "I'm hungray. Hey miststah whut are doze?" Pacifica pointed to the sticks.

"Fried moss worms." The vendor said with pride.

"Wurms? Sounds yucky but everything tastes bettah fried. I'll have one." Pacifica took a bite. "If everyboody fried dare fud din thered be no war." Pacifica continued to eat the worm until she saw something. "Dat looks like fon." Pacifica said with her mouth full.

Mabel ran down the street. "The people in front of the club said she went this way."

She came upon a hovering ambulance. "Both of his wrists are broken, and his shoulders are dislocated." An EMT with a scanner said.

"I tried to collect the bounty on her, and that bitch did this to me!" Torfol yelled.

"She was absolutely drunk, but she took him down in a couple of seconds. I never seen anything like it!" a woman in the crowd said.

"Did you see which way she went?" Mabel asked her.

"She went down that alley, said something about a good smell." The woman pointed the way.

"Thanks!"

Vax fired a grappling claw from his arm. "Torfol forgot the first rule of bounty hunting. Never underestimate your quarry."

Mabel found the fried worm cart. "Excuse me, did you see a woman like me but with blonde hair?"

The vendor looked annoyed. "Yeah she ate one of my worms on a stick without paying! I'm waiting for her to come out of there so she can pay up!" he pointed to a building across the street.

Mabel was having a hard time imagining Pacifica eating a worm when she read the sign of the building that she was in. "A tattoo parlor!" Mabel pulled out her quan disk. "I'll pay for my friend." Mabel paid and ran into the parlor. When she got inside Mabel was greeted by a view of Pacifica's bare butt with a tattoo of the Big Dipper on her right butt cheek. It looked exactly like Dipper's birthmark.

"Hey Maybull! Do you like it? I wanted to hav somethun like Dripper but ben I thought it would be fun ta put it sum place naughty." Pacifica then laughed shanking her rear.

"Pacifica, you're drunk. You don't know what you're doing!" Mabel said pulling up Pacifica's pants.

Pacifica fought her. "It's mah burthday and I'll doooo what I wanna!"

"Why did you do this anyway?"

"I like Dippur and it wood mean I'm his furever. I wannna kiss'em but only ifa he wants to cause that would be nice."

"Yeah, I understand that. But did you stop to think if Dipper would want you to do this?"

"N…no." Pacifica began to tear up.

"It's okay, I'm sure that there is some advance tech to remove it."

"Don't count on it." It was then that Mabel noticed the tattoo artist. "This isn't some primitive ink job. My technique changes the skin pigment, it is as permanent it gets. No refunds."

"You just gave a permanent tattoo to a drunk girl? How could you do that?"

"She paid upfront. Consider this a life lesson."

Pacifica kept crying. "What was I thinking? Dipper doezn't want me! I ma too messsed up in the head fer him!"

"That's not true!" Mabel took Pacifica's hands and looked her in the eyes. "He knows that you need time to work through this stuff, but he cares a lot about you! He's faced assassins, fleets, and armies to get you back! He stayed up nights trying to figure out where to find you! And he won't quit until he gets us all home!"

Pacifica's mood was turned on its head. "Yer right! Hez nice like that. Evebeen if he doesn't wanna date this means he's mah friend ferever and so are you!" As she said this she pointed to her butt.

"Yeah so how about we go back to the ship? I think we've enough fun for one night." Pacifica answered with a nod.

Mabel led Pacifica back through the streets to the landing pad. They were almost there when Pacifica noticed a glint from the roof tops. She pushed Mabel away before she jumped back from a pair of darts. "Was hoping to use the two of you to get the others to surrender." Vax said putting the dart gun away.

"Wait I know you." Mabel looked at the hairy man's face. "You're that bounty hunter Vax! Coming after us again now that they increased the reward?"

"The money's just a bonus. This is about payback! It took me a week of trudging through the swamp just to get someone to tow my ship out!" Before Mabel knew it, Vax knocked her gun out of her hand and lifted her off the ground by her blouse with his cybernetic arm. "But more importantly is the fact that you and your brother cost me my perfect capture record! That record was the corner stone of my rep! Everyone knew I was the best until you two and now I'm going to get it back!"

"Hey Furball!" Pacifica shouted. "Git your stinkin' paws off mah sistah!" Pacifica drew her daggers and charged. Vax pulled a gun at shot at Pacifica, but she kept side stepping his shots or stumbled out of the way. As she got in close Vax dropped Mabel and got a powerful punch ready but before he knew it, he fell to the ground seeing that his cybernetic arm and leg were cut in half along with his gun.

"I get all of you some day and get my record back! You won't stop me! I'll be the one to bring you in, so you better run! If that idiot Torfol could find you here, then this station will have at least fifty more bounty hunters by morning!" Vax said as he used his remaining arm to call his ship that lowered a line to pull him up.

"Go ahead and run!" Pacifica said as she turned green. "Because now Ima gonna throw up."

Mabel ran right to Pacifica. "Okay! Use this trash can. I'll hold back your hair."

After she finished Pacifica said "I wanna go to bed now."

Mabel brought Pacifica back to the Ixcia. "Mabel, I thought you were going to call first." Dipper said.

"Sorry guys. Pacifica accidently got some alcohol and it turns out she doesn't handle it well. Things got kinda crazy, so I forgot to call which I wish I did because we ran into Vax and another bounty hunter and about fifty more are coming to the station, so we need to leave right now while Pacifica sleeps it off."

It took a moment for Dipper to process what Mabel said. "Gideon get on the horn with station operations and see if we can get an earlier departure time. I'm going to help Mabel get Pacifica to her room."

"So much for a guy's night out." Gideon grumbled.

"Here we are Pacifica. Now you go to sleep and we'll see you in the morning." Mabel said.

Pacifica fell onto the bed. "Okay. Night mommy. Night Daddy." Pacifica fell asleep not seeing Dipper's present.

The next morning when Pacifica woke up Mabel was there with Ixcia and holding a pill and a hot cup of Nevba juice. "Hey Pacifica, Ixcia has a cure for hangovers that works with nevba juice." Mabel said.

Pain shot through Pacifica's head. "Gimme! Please!"

As Pacifica took the pill and sipped the hot beverage her head cleared. "I should note that this medication comes with serious side effects if taken more than once in a thirty-day period." Ixcia said.

"So, what do you remember about last night?" Mabel asked.

Pacifica placed her hand on the right side of her rear. "Everything… I'm never touching a drop of booze again!"

Mabel smiled. "It'll be our secret. But I got to ask, when you saved me from Vax you called me your sister, why?"

Pacifica gave a small smile. "Back home Lazy Susan told me stories about her big sister while we worked. How she took her to do fun things, how she looked out for and comforted her. You did all that for me yesterday and I guess in the state I was in I just made that kind of connection. I never had a sister; my parents had a hard time just getting me."

"You did the same for me. We went out for your birthday, you reassured me about my body, and you protected me. I never had a sister either but since were the only women on this journey maybe that what we should be."

"I'd like that."

"Remember just before this whole thing started you said that you and Dipper might not be meant to be? Well, all the things you said kept you two apart aren't issues anymore."

"But does he even like me like that?"

"Well here is one sign that says at least maybe." Mabel stepped back to reveal that one wall in Pacifica's room was painted into a landscape of Lake Gravity Falls at sunset. "It's your birthday present from Dipper."

"It's beautiful!" Pacifica got up, put the cup down and left her room to find Dipper who was having breakfast in the common area with Gideon. She gave him a big hug. "I love it."

Dipper blushed "I'm glad you like it."

Gideon swallowed. "Well then how about you come down to the cargo bay and I'll give you my present." They went down and Gideon pulled out two small sliver bracelets with one blinking light each. "I made these to fit under your sleeves, you said the we relied too much on long range attacks, but you don't really have any."

"She didn't need them against Vax last night." Mabel boasted.

"Never hurts to have a trick up my sleeve, literally." Pacifica put the bracelets and rolled her sleeves over them. "So how do they work?"

"See that target there? Throw one of your daggers at it." Gideon pointed to the target. Pacifica threw her dagger and hit the bullseye. "Great! Now make a pulling back motion."

Pacifica did so and the dagger flew back to her hand. "Wow!"

"I made those bracelets to work with the more unique metals in your daggers' handles. It only works if they have no forward momentum so you can't pull it back mid throw, but they will always come back handle first."

"Thanks Gideon!" Pacifica said looking around at the people that were with her. There was the guy she liked who risked everything to save her and was sweeter than she knew, Her new sister that looked out for her and never gave up, and a young man was almost like a little brother to her who was also a once a troubled misfit. These people were just as much her family as her parents back home that four years ago she wouldn't imagine she would miss this much.

Eleven years later,

"And I mean that. You guys weren't always the best parents but you're mine and I love you! It took four years with people who were far worse to get me to realize that." Pacifica hugged her parents.

"And we love you too Pacifica." Preston said kissing his daughter on the forehead.

"Yes, tattoo and all." Priscilla sobbed. "I'm just sorry I passed down my problems with alcohol to you."

"It became what I wanted it to mean in the first place. That I am his forever." Pacifica looked at Dipper.

"And I'm yours forever." Dipper gave Pacifica a kiss on her cheek. "Now how about I introduce you all to my parents? "

Preston looked Dipper and Pacifica with a loving pride. "That does sound like a good idea…son."

"Wow, that is going to take some getting used to. I'm not sure if I should call you guys Mr. and Mrs. Northwest, or you first names, or mom and dad."

"Take your time and you'll find whichever one you're most comfortable with. "Priscilla said.

"Just one question before we leave. When did you learn about my daughters tattoo?" Preston asked.

"Not until our wedding night!" Dipper said panicked.

"Just trying to get a rise out of my boy." Preston chuckled as he opened the door.

Pacifica looked into Dippers eyes. "Mason, I know I've said this before, but I just want to thank you and the others for saving me all those years ago, and for getting me home."

"Anything for you my golden flower." Dipper said.

All the families met in the room where the press conference was held two hours ago. "Dipper, Paz! I want you guys to meet my little sister Erika." Gideon said as they came in.

"When did this happen?" Dipper asked.

"Is this your bride Mason?" Sarah asked walking up to Pacifica.

"Yes mam, a pleasure to meet you." Pacifica said.

"Please call me Sarah. We're family now."

Conversations like this went on for hours as the families talked and grew closer, rejoicing in the return of their loved ones. But nothing lasts forever and as the sun began to set the crew of the Ixcia knew it was time to go. "These agents aren't going to wait forever, and we got a lot of work ahead of us. They'll take us to our hotel rooms." Dipper said.

"But don't worry! We will definitely make time for all of you!" Mabel said.

"Thanks for saying that Sweetie." Stan said with a tear in his eye.

Mabel sighed. "Well we got to show you all Ixcia, she's part of the family too!"

"Yes!" Erika fist pumped.

"Not behind the controls." Bud said which made Erika groan.

"Is there a phone number we can reach you at?" Andrew asked.

"We'll see about rigging a number to our communicators with Ixcia's help." Gideon said.

"Well then we'll see you all soon." Priscilla said.

"Yes, good night everyone!" Dipper said as they got into the cars driven by agents.

They were taken to a local hotel and the group of space explorers had a whole floor cleared for them. "Well I don't know about you guys but say we order the first pizza we've had in over a decade!" Mabel said.

It was delivered to Mabel and Gideon's room where the four ate together. "Oh, it is so good to have some normal food. I've missed cheese." Gideon said after wiping his mouth.

Dipper took a bite and savored what was what many would say was a cheap pizza. "I forgot what it tastes like!"

Pacifica sipped her soda enjoying this moment. But a burp from her sister by choice and marriage snapped her out of it. "Excuse me. But come on guys how could I not chug this? Isoban has no concept of sweet tastes!"

Pacifica laughed and then said. "Guys now that we all have this alone time, I think maybe we should take this as an opportunity to talk about our other project."

Dipper cuddled up with his wife. "Pacifica we all started trying only last night. I'm eager too but there's no need to be impatient."

"It's just all these governments and corporations will keep us busy. Saving humanity is important but I don't want it to get in the way of all us starting our own families! We all agreed to wait until we got back to earth, and I want to save it for OUR children and grandchildren!"

Gideon nodded. "Pacifica's right everyone, this is the perfect way to cap off celebrating finally coming home."

"Right, we'll go to our room then." Dipper said taking his wife's hand.

"Good night you two." Pacifica said.

Mabel smiled. "Good night. See you guys for breakfast with Wendy." After the door was closed Mabel turned to Gideon and stripped down to her red bra and panties. If you were to look at her from behind, you would she her large three-pronged scar. "Now how about we add a new Gleeful to the world?" Mabel rubbed Gideon's exposed abs.

"A new Gleeful…" Gideon now in only in his white boxers got into the bed. "…I can still hardly believe it. I have a sister whose entire life I missed! How do I make up for that?"

Mabel got into the bed. "There's nothing to make up for. We all did our best to get back home at all. She knows that, and there was nothing you or any of us could do at the time. Just be there for her now."

"How are you feeling?"

"Me? Well of course I'm happy to be back, a little shocked when I heard my parent nearly spilt up and then became religious. They've haven't been pushy about it, they said I have to feel the call of God in my heart."

"If you want to look into it then I'm with you. Whatever you want to do."

"I love you." Mabel and Gideon shared a long passionate kiss. "Now let's make your new little sister an aunt."

A few doors down Dipper was in only his grey boxers while Pacifica was in her periwinkle lace bra and panties. "I still am so amazed by how much they changed." Pacifica said as she undid the band that held hair in a ponytail and let it all flow.

"Do you think that they found religion like my parents did?" Dipper asked.

"Well that sort of thing has been used in A.A. so maybe my mom has but I guess we just have to ask them."

Dipper thought about what he told his parents today. "Pacifica there's something I never told you. Before we found you or Gideon, I thought I saw you as this guy was coming out of this brothel. I got so angry they wouldn't let me in, so I tracked the man down and demanded that he get me to see you. He said he had no idea who you were, so I just lost it. I beat him so many times he almost died. But Mabel showed me the girl I saw, and she did look a lot like you…if you had two noses. The same thing was happening when I found out what the Felggur did to you I wanted to make them pay for hurting you. Mabel told me you wouldn't want this thing to make me into something I'm not, but I was so tempted."

"Mason…" Pacifica embraced her husband. "That was a dark time for us both. But if there is one thing this shows is that you will go to any lengths to protect your friends and family and our child will need that." She then thought for a moment. "Maybe we should look into this whole faith thing. Ixcia has been a wonderful help to me but you and I are still haunted be what we had to do to get back."

"Maybe we should, it might even make us better parents."

Pacifica gave her husband a long loving kiss and walk over beside the bed. She then shook her rear toward him seductively putting that training she was given to good use. "Come to me Mason. I only see two Big Dippers in this room. Bring out the third."

Dipper joined his wife in the bed. The agents standing guard outside blushed from what they heard in the rooms and were glad they cleared the floor or the hotel manager would chew them out for all the noise complaints.


	7. Wendy's Story

Chapter 7

Wendy's Story

The rays of the sun came through Wendy's bedroom window. She woke up and turned to see her husband laying beside her staring at her face. He had fair skin and dirty blonde hair. "Grey what are you doing?" Wendy asked.

"Watching the most beautiful woman in the world sleep." He said rubbing her cheek.

"Oh stop." Wendy gave her husband a gentle shove and then sat up. "We better get ready. You shower first and I'll wake up Amelia."

"So now I get to meet the friends you've talked about for years. Including a man whom you were his first crush. Should I be jealous?" Grey chuckled as he got out of bed.

"He may have been in love with me once, but you know I never had feelings like that for him. He seems to be happily married now. Now get yourself cleaned and groomed, I want to show you off." Wendy got out of bed and went to a room across the hall. Inside the bedroom Wendy gazed on her child, her little girl. She had her mother's red hair and freckles much like Wendy had when she was that age. She was cuddling with her stuffed beaver Betty that had a pink bow. Wendy looked for a minute and gently shook her awake. "Good morning sweetie."

Amelia rubbed her eyes and looked up. "Morning Mommy."

"Ready for some pancakes? You're going meet Mommy's friends from her stories."

"Really?" Amelia was excited.

"Yes, and you'll never guess where they've been."

A short time later the family was dressed and getting things together. Grey had on white shirt and brown jacket, khaki pants and his glasses. "See Amelia, those are your mommy's friends." He pointed to news footage of the Ixcia crew during their press conference. Amelia had her hair in pigtails and wore a little green dress with a frog on the front.

Wendy was wearing blue jeans and a yellow plaid shirt with red stripes. She also had her hair done in the bun she does when she is on duty. "Everyone ready?" She asked checking her personal handgun placing it in a concealed holster.

"Just need to grab the car keys." Grey said after slinging a dark brown satchel over his shoulder.

"Great. We just need to make a quick stop at the station before we go to Greasy's."

The family got to the car and Wendy put Amelia in her booster seat. "Why are you going to work Mommy?" she asked.

"There just some things my friends will want back in there that's all." Wendy buckled her daughter in.

A few minutes later Wendy got out of the car and went into the station. "Sheriff Frost, I thought you had taken the morning off." One of her deputies said.

"I did Sanders, I just need to pick up some old things in the evidence locker now that the Pines missing persons case was solved. Return some personal belongings."

She went into a storage room and looked in an old cardboard box. _"There's not much in here that they would really want. Just maybe these four items here."_ She put the items in a smaller box and rejoined her family when they got to the diner the Ixcia crew were standing outside waiting.

Gideon was facing the woods holding up a something like a small pendent when they got out of the car. "See Chugar? Aren't they beautiful? I did it, Commander, mission accomplished."

"Hey guys." Wendy said to the group carrying the box. "How did things go with your families?"

"Well there were certainly surprises." Dipper said.

"Like that I have a little sister." Gideon said.

Wendy sighed. "Erika, she gives me so much grief. This is karma punishing me for the stupid things I did as a teen."

Dipper quickly changed the subject. "So, this must be Grey and Amelia." Dipper held out his hand for a handshake.

"Pleasure to meet to you all. Wendy has told us both so much about you." Grey shook his hand.

"Wendy she is adorable! Like a mini you!" Mable said thinking about the time when she and Dipper met Wendy's five-year old self.

"Were you really in space?" Amelia asked.

"For a very long time." Pacifica said.

Dipper then looked at Wendy. "Well I'm sure everyone here is hungry so let's get inside and have some pancakes." They all went inside, and the diner was one of the few things that didn't look like it changed right down to the manliness tester. "Remember me?"

"Dipper please..." Mabel said.

"I've grown and been through a lot out there, and I train with Pacifica every day. I think at the very least I can do better than last time." Dipper stepped up to the machine and squeezed the handle. It lit up all the way to "Man" the second highest rank.

"I didn't need some old machine to tell me that." Pacifica gave her husband a kiss on the cheek.

Gideon tired a won. "Guess that means free pancakes." he said.

Mabel pointed to Gideon. "This is my guy so hands-off ladies! He's taken! Now to have some sweet syrupy goodness." A pair of agents followed them into the dinner as sat down at the counter.

Wendy laughed as they sat down in the largest booth. "You guys are just as much fun as ever. I got somethings for you guys; they've been in evidence for fifteen years."

The first thing she pulled out was a book. "That's mine." Pacifica said. "It's a book of poems by Thomas Moore my favorite poet. This was the first thing I bought with the money I earned here. I used to read one poem every night before bed."

Next Wendy took out a very familiar grappling hook. "You never forget your first." Mabel smiled.

Wendy looked at Gideon. "I'm sorry but there was didn't seems like anything personal of yours at the campsite."

"I didn't have anything really." Gideon just shrugged it off.

Wendy then took out the last two objects a blue book with a gold pine tree on it and the hat Wendy gave Dipper. "My Journal, when I first started writing it, I felt like I was starting my own path. It got interrupted for a long time but now I think I'm back on track." Dipper put the hat on. "It still fits."

"Great." Wendy said and then looked at the waitress. "Can we have some coffee please? Wait…" she then asked the others. "Do you guys drink coffee?"

"We drank nevba juice which is similar except it's blue."

"Gross!" Amelia stuck her tongue out.

"Then coffees for everyone except this little one because the last thing she needs is caffeine." Wendy said.

"Right away Sheriff." The waitress said.

Dipper gave a small chuckle. "I still can't believe that you became a cop much less the sheriff. You used to be all about breaking the rules."

"Nuh-uh. Mommy doesn't break rules." Amelia said.

"I used to be a big rule breaker a long time ago Amelia." Wendy gave a deep sigh. "But all that changed after you guys vanished."

Fourteen years ago,

The Pines camping party had been missing for a year and graduation was fast approaching for Wendy and her friends. Robbie and Tambry walked up to Wendy who was exchanging books in her locker. They noticed that Wendy was beginning to cry looking at a picture of her and her friends at the Mystery Shack that was taken two years ago. "Wendy you okay?" Tambry asked her childhood friend.

Wendy wiped away her tears. "Yeah, I'm fine." She said trying to reassure her friends.

"Wendy, it's okay. We know you miss them." Robbie said. "But our future is almost here so, have you decided on what college you want to go to? My parents insist that if I'm going to into music then I should also go to law school, so I don't get cheated on my contracts, also you know as a backup plan in case my music career doesn't take off."

Tambry joined in. "And I'm going into Interior design but I'm going to go to whatever school is closest to Robbie's."

Wendy closed her locker door. "I think I'll go to Gravity Falls Community College and join the Sheriff's Academy."

"What?!" the couple said at the same time.

"Wendy why would you want to become a cop? We've messed with them all the time!" Robbie said.

"Because that 'Never mind all that law' is a joke!" Wendy banged her fist against her locker. "Last year the town heroes vanished and not even help from most of the weird things in town could let us find them! Four kids just gone just like my Mom! With Stan and Ford out of town trying to find leads someone must protect this town and our local law enforcers as you know are a joke! If they can hardly care about normal crime how can they protect people from the weirder stuff? So, I'm going to join and try to change it from the inside out!"

"Does your dad know about this?" Robbie asked.

"He was a little disappointed that I'm not joining the family business, but he gets why I need to do this, and my brothers are eager to follow in his footsteps. Marcus, Kevin, and Gus think it would be cool to have a cop in the family."

Tambry looked a little sad. "Wendy if you do this then you might not ever leave this town. You wanted to move to Portland. Lee, Nate, and even Thompson already are going to other parts of the country for college and while we're going to a college in state it might mean we might never see each other again."

Wendy gave Tambry a hug. "We still can keep in touch especially you since you never put down your phone. I get why you two are worried, but this is something I feel called to do. I found something more important than a wish to live somewhere else." A few weeks later Wendy and her friends accepted their High School Diplomas and she looked out to see not only her family but Stan, Ford, Soos, and Melody looking at her proudly.

Two years later,

Wendy stood proudly in uniform with the other members of her class at the sheriff's academy, small as it is. She started wearing her hair in a bun so in wouldn't get in the way of her work. Sheriff Blubs was giving the commencement speech. "Today you join those sworn to protect this community and to uphold the laws of Roadkill County. Welcome to the Gravity Falls Sheriff's Department deputies. Now Deputy Durland light those illegal fireworks!"

"Wooooo!" Durland lit the fuse and as the rest of her class cheered, she knew this was going to be harder than she thought. They joined hoping for an easy job, but she was here for a purpose.

She was assigned an officer Matthews as a partner, he was your typical fat cop. "I don't care what Sheriff Blubs says this shop has way better coffee than Greasy's. You sure you don't want a donut?" he asked her while on patrol.

"No, the point of going on patrol is look for possible crimes and reassure the public, not stuff our faces." Wendy said taking the cup of coffee her partner offered.

"I get it. You're a rookie eager for action and a young hot looking lady who doesn't want to pack on a pounds so you can look good for your guy." Matthews said.

Wendy groaned when she heard someone yelling. "Hey, those things took my car!" She saw a car being driven wildly by small green things with big eyes and sharp little teeth. While she was getting her degree, she had Ford send her any notes of anomalies he remembered, and she recognized these things. Gremlins, creatures that love to mess with mechanical things. She dropped her coffee and ran after the car Matthews struggling to keep up. Wendy cut them off at a turn and jumped into an open window and started fight the little monsters. She pulled the car over and let the beaten creatures out while she had just a few scratches. "Now if I catch you guys doing something like this again, I won't go easy on you! Stick to the dump!" Wendy yelled.

Matthews ran up out of breath. "Nice…*pant*…job *pant* rookie."

A few weeks later she heard talk around the office. "More broken hydrants again. Any idea what the cause could be?" an officer asked Durland.

"Nope but I heard that Orville's going for the department record for the most times kicking a hacky sack." Durland answered.

Wendy rubbed her temples. She knew what this was, the Manotaurs were at it again. She'd have to go to the Man Cave again remind them to keep their wild nights out of town. It wasn't like anyone else was going to do it. She was the only one who filled out reports most of the time, she was the only one who actively went after leads in cases, and she was the only one going after any of the weird threats to the town. The longer she was with the force the more she felt like she was the only sane person on it.

Twelve years later,

"That sounds really hard." Mabel said.

"Back then all I cared about was keeping the town safe." Wendy said looking into her coffee. "I may have turned into a total loner if I didn't meet Grey the very next year."

"Now I really want to hear about this!"

"Wendy said you didn't have a problem with the weirdness in Gravity Falls, is that true Grey?" Dipper asked.

Grey held up his hand while Amelia giggled. "Of course, let me show you." As the waitress came by Grey asked. "Another cup of coffee please." After the cup was poured, he looked around to see if anyone else was looking. Out of his satchel he pulled out a blue crystal orb with white swirling lights inside. With one finger he seemed to pull out a strand of light and draw a strange symbol and when he finished, he blew on it and a sudden cold wind froze his coffee solid. "You could say I'm one of those weird things. I'm a sorcerer."

"What?" The space explores said in a surprised whisper.

"So, you're a wizard?' Mabel asked.

"Great now you've got him started." Wendy said.

"I'll keep it brief dear. No wizards learn spells by studying incantations that anyone who finds them can use. Sorcerers like myself can tap into the power held in magical relics that hold energies pulled from ley lines like this, the Orb of Boreas. It's been in my family for generations. That is the key difference, one becomes a wizard while one is born a sorcerer and begins training in how to harness the power of relics at age thirteen.

Dipper was excited like he hadn't been in years. "So, did you come to Gravity Falls because of the magic that gathers here? What is the difference between relics like this and other magical objects?"

"Most enchanted objects are made by spells while relics are left at ley line intersections for hundreds of years naturally draw in the power. Until I came here, I found very little use for my powers, I came for my job."

"But it was both the weirdness of Gravity Falls and chance that we even met." Wendy said thinking back.

Ten years ago,

"Deputy Corduroy! My office now!" Sheriff Blubs did not look happy. Wendy went into the office and Durland was standing right beside Blubs' desk. "Corduroy, do you know why I called you here?"

Wendy didn't care if it was insubordination, she had to say it. "Is it because I made more collars in my first year than most of the force made in the past three that I'm embarrassing them to actually do their jobs?"

Blubs didn't want to admit she was right there so he went on to his point. "We're here because of your attitude and the reckless risks you take! Are you aware that most of your fellow deputies resent the fact you constantly report when they are behind on their paperwork?"

"The courts need those reports to make convictions. It's not fun but it's part of the job."

"What about these complaints about you disrupting department activities?"

Durlan looked sad. "She wrecked our juice box derby racers."

Wendy defended herself. "Sir this is a police department not a daycare. Durland I don't mind you and the guys do that kind of thing on your own time, but it shouldn't be while on duty. You've been guilty of this yourself Sheriff."

Blubs decided to pull out the big guns. "What about these proposals for things this department can't possibly afford?" He pulled out a list. "Recommendation for buying military grade weapons."

"Gremoblins don't go down easy."

"Suggestion that we run joint training exercises with the…what's this? The Gnome Police Department?"

"We both operate in the same jurisdiction. Might make handling our more unusual cases easier."

"Corduroy your obsession with the more…different aspects this town is going to land you in trouble like the incident last month."

"That thawed out wooly mammoth was a clear and present danger to the community! There was no way I could force it into the woods without backup!"

"We lost two squad cars! Matthews' injuries will have him riding desk duty for three months! He insists on dropping you as his partner and no one is eager to take you as one!"

"I don't need a partner! Not one who doesn't take this job seriously! Most of the time it seems like I'm the only one that does. People get hurt if you don't."

Blubs took a deep breath and took off his shades. "Corduroy, Wendy it seems the stress of this job is getting to you. If you don't take time to unwind you could lose it at the worst time. I'm restricting you to speed trap duty for the next two weeks. I highly recommend you use this time to relax. Reconnect with friends and family."

Wendy wanted to snap back but maybe Blubs was right. "Yes sir." The next day Wendy sat alone in a patrol car holding a radar gun bored. "What are you doing Wendy? You know you can't change the department if you push them all away but it's like they don't care as much as you. Maybe because they haven't lost friends like you did." Just then a car sped by going way over the limit but for good reason, it was being chased by three bird like women. "Harpies! Can't call back up, they'd just say I'm dragging them into another problem that's not ours." Wendy turned on the siren and chased after the flock.

The car crashed into a tree and the driver climbed out. "What are these things?" The man with glasses and dirty blonde hair said as he tried to reach for a bag that was thrown out by the crash.

Wendy shot once into the air. "This is your only warning! Leave him alone!" The only response she got was a high-pitched screech. Wendy then shot one clear through the wing before a fourth came up from behind her and lifted her off the ground before throwing Wendy against a tree knocking the gun out of her hand. Wendy was surrounded by the sharp toothed creatures. _"Not sure I can get out of this. Dipper I'm sorry."_

Just then a cold wind blew, and the harpies were mostly incased in ice. Wendy looked to the man she came to save to see him standing holding a strange crystal ball. "Leave her alone!" the man said.

"You did that?" Wendy asked.

"Yes, I know it is strange but…"

"We'll talk about it later!" Wendy then turned to the harpies. "If you don't want to stay frozen turkeys then you stick to hunting animals not people!" They nodded and Wendy then used her nightstick to break them out of the ice. The three other harpies then helped their injured comrade fly away.

The man put the ball he had back into the bag. "So, I'm sure we both have questions, but I'll be the gentleman and let you go first."

"How did you do that? Who are you?" Wendy asked.

"My name is Grey Frost and I am a sorcerer. I used the Orb of Boreas to cast those creatures in ice." Grey held out his hand and Wendy shook it.

"Deputy Wendy Corduroy. So, you're magic. Doesn't surprise me, it makes as much sense as the other things in Gravity Falls." Wendy looked at Grey's wrecked car. "There's a mechanic named Steve in town. It will take him some time to fix up your car but then you can be on your way."

"Actually, I came to this town to teach fourth grade." Grey said readjusting his glasses.

Wendy opened the door to her car. "Well let's get you to town. You know it might be a good thing you came here. I'm the only one on the force that seems to care about the weird things that threaten this town. You probably handle things like this all the time."

"Actually, I never really needed to use my powers before. But if they're things that are a threat to my students then I guess I could try helping you." Grey said as he got in the squad car.

"Great it'll be much easier with a wizard on my side." This led to a rant about the differences sorcerers and wizards that lasted the whole ride to the station.

Ten years later,

"It took some getting used to for me." Grey said. "Helping Wendy with zombies, ghosts, and other things. I still help her after school."

"So, when did you two start dating?" Mabel asked.

Wendy for some reason looked very nervous, her eyes kept darting to Amelia. Grey then pointed out the window. "Look Amelia is that a fairy?"

"Where!?" Amelia almost jumped onto the table.

"Grey you take her to look, have some father daughter time. It shouldn't take you more than fifteen to twenty minutes." Wendy's tone changed slightly at the last sentence.

"Right. Let's go Amelia." Grey picked up his daughter and took her out of the diner.

Wendy breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks for playing along guys. This is one those lie for the greater good moments. Amelia is just too young to hear about what was going on just before Grey and I started dating. It was the case that made my carrier and why people voted for me to be sheriff. Six months after Grey and I met a hiker found an old mineshaft and in it were a lot of bodies. All their faces were mutilated so it took a while to identify them all, but it was clear that Roadkill County had a serial killer. The whole thing reminded me that there are people that more deserving to be called monsters than most of the things in this town."

Ten years ago,

The news had shaken the whole town. "I can't believe it, from what I heard so far with the dental records they found victims dating back five years!" said a rookie deputy named Fredricks.

"Five years? Are you sure about that?" Wendy asked.

"Yes, and all of them are confirmed missing persons cases. I hope that big city profiler gets here soon."

Wendy then went over the crime scene photos trying to find something. "There has to be a clue or something here."

Grey entered the room with a knock on the door. "I hope I'm not disturbing you."

"I…I better check with the sheriff if they IDed any more of those bodies." Fredricks saw himself out.

"What was that about?" Grey asked.

"Since we've been working together almost every day the whole force thinks that we're going out. Truth be told I haven't been on a date in…five years. Grey I never told you why I joined the force did I?"

"No…" Grey said absent mindedly as he thought more about what Wendy said about the department thinking they were dating.

"I had some younger friends, a pair of twins that shown me the weirdness of this town I grew up in. They even literally saved the whole world but five years ago they and some friends their age went on a camping trip and disappeared. With them gone and the only person close to an expert to weirdness traveling the world trying to find them there was no one left to protect this town, so I joined the force. I always thought it was some…thing that was responsible, but I may have been wrong."

"How?"

"Don't tell anyone but so far the victims of this killer dated back at least five years ago. What if…what if it wasn't something paranormal that got Dipper and Mabel but this killer whoever he is."

"Do you really think that could be true?"

"I don't know but at least there haven't been any talk of dangerous anomalies, so why don't you go home and get things ready for your next class. I need to look over these crime scene photos before the feds get here. I hope to find something before Blubs hands the whole thing over to them."

"Oh, okay." As Grey left, he thought. _"She never told me something so personal before. Does the rest of the department really think we're a couple? Do we really look like we're that close? Could we be that close?"_

Back at her desk Wendy looked at a photo of the entrance to the mineshaft and noticed something. "Those tire treads, they're not from our cars and we kept the press away from that area." She pulled something up on her computer. "I never seen tire marks like that before…they're a make of tire from a small company in Canada. Who from this area ordered those kinds of tires? Just one, Daren Kline a forest ranger." Wendy got up and went to Blubs office. "Sheriff I think I may have a possible lead on our serial killer."

Wendy didn't see Durland was in the room who screamed. "Corduroy, please don't say that phrase around Durland. He's scared enough." Blubs said.

"Sorry Edwin." Wendy said as the other deputy kept running into the wall to get away.

Blubs held Durland's hand which calmed him down. "What exactly did you find? The…guy probably left town when news of his…hiding spot got on the T.V."

"There was a set of tire tracks that only one man in the county could have left. At the very least he might know something."

"Couldn't this wait until the feds get here?"

"At the very least I could ask the man a few questions. Make things easier for the Feds when they get here."

"Fine but just a few questions. Besides I'm sure you're eager to see that teacher friend of yours."

"Woooooooh," Durland cheered.

As Wendy left, she thought. _"Yeah keep thinking that. I didn't realize it until I said it out loud, but it has been a long time since I've gone out with anybody. Grey is a nice guy, not what I typically choose for a date…No, snap out of it, Wendy! You dedicated yourself to protecting this town! I can't get distracted now, not if this Daren Kline might have done something to Dipper and Mable."_ The redheaded deputy drove to the address that her computer gave her. It was halfway between Gravity Falls and the closest town. The house looked to be falling apart like the Mystery Shack was before Soos took over. Wendy rang the bell and waited, after a few minutes she tied knocking on the door only to find it unlocked as the door swung open to a seemingly vacant house. Suddenly Wendy felt something jab into her back, she turned around seeing a white male with brown hair tied in a braid holding rifle as her vision blurred before blacking out.

Grey couldn't focus. Not on his lesson plan, not his painting, he couldn't get the thought of Wendy out of his head. Ever since she told him the force thought of the two of them a few hours ago dating scenarios kept playing in his mind. _"We've been working together for half a year now, she is a good and strong woman, she is even beautiful now that I think about it. But should we date for real?" _Grey dialed Wendy's cell but it went to voice mail. He tried again and still nothing. "Better call the station."

He dialed the nonemergency number to the sheriff's department. "Gravity Falls Sheriff's Department, how may I help you?" the receptionist asked.

"Is Wendy Corduroy in? I need to talk with her, and she is not answering her cell phone."

"Who may I ask is calling?"

"Grey Frost."

"One moment."

The next thing Grey knew Sheriff Blubs was on the phone. "Grey you have no idea where Wendy is either? She left to question a person of intertest in a case hours ago, but we don't who that was. One of our deputies closed her files on her computer to play Monkey Quest Online. She is going to give use all a big I told you so."

"You don't have any idea where she is?" Grey asked worried.

"We all thought she was with you until you called. That she finally loosened up and took time off to do something romantic."

"This case, it's the serial killer isn't? She could be in danger!"

"Grey leave this to us. We'll find her." Blubs hung up.

"I can't do nothing." Grey pulled out a small orange crystal. Sorcerers may have not need to learn spells to use magic but that didn't mean they couldn't use them. This was a scrying crystal now all he needed was something of Wendy's to use, and he knew just where to get it. Pulling out the key Wendy gave to her apartment in case of emergency Grey left and this was an emergency.

When Wendy's eyes opened, she found herself in a basement lit up by a single light bulb, but it was enough for to see the horror of this place. She was strapped down a table by old belts, there were old blood stains on the table. Around her were chains on the walls, used to keep multiple victims from running away. Her gun was sitting on a work bench at the far side of the room. Standing not far from the table was the man Wendy saw when she blacked out. This had to be Daren Kline. "You should have stayed off my people's land. Got to do this quick, with my dumping spot found I need to find a new place to hide and lay low." Daren pulled out a knife. "Scream for me white woman, let your cries call my tribe back to this land to cast you all out!"

He stabbed Wendy in the side but while her pain was great, she didn't scream. Wendy kept reminding herself that she faced ghosts, a shapeshifter, a secret society, a reality warping demon, and even more. This man could kill her, but he didn't scare the redhead. "Your tribe?" Wendy groaned. "You really must be crazy, if you're an Indian then I'm a tree sloth, besides all native tribes left this valley hundreds of years before ANY white settlers came."

Daren slammed his fist against the table right by Wendy's head. "Lies! I am descended from the true people of this land and the spirits WILL cleanse me of your kinds unclean blood from my veins! Now scream! Call them here! I heard so many, but you may be more satisfying then my first kills five years ago. Those twins almost brought the spirits to me, you would think their screams would sound alike…"

Wendy was not as strong as her dad, but she had her fathers' blood in her veins and all Corduroys were strong. Especially when they're angry. Wendy pulled at the old belts snapping them apart. Daren was so shocked he didn't see Wendy's fist fly to his face breaking his nose. Daren stumbled back as Wendy got off the table, the knife still in her side. The killer tried to grab it, but Wendy would let him. She knew that if it was pulled out the bleeding would get worse. Wendy took hold of Daren's wrist and kneed him in the stomach knocking him down. Wendy then got behind him and hand cuffed him. "Daren Kline you are under arrest on suspicion of multiple homicides. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You…have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you by the court. Do you…understand these rights as I have explained them to you?" Wendy was getting woozy from the blood lose.

"Wendy!" Grey came running in as Wendy fainted.

The next thing Wendy knew she was waking up in the hospital. "Well it looks like you're going recover Ms. Corduroy." The doctor said.

"Where's Kline?" Wendy asked worried.

"He's been in custody since you were admitted here two days ago. It's okay, he's not going to hurt anyone else."

"Let me in! I need to see my little girl!" It was Manly Dan who burst into the room. "Sweetie I was so worried."

"She is going to be fine Mr. Corduroy." The Doctor reassured.

"Thanks to blood donations from several members of the force." It was Sheriff Blubs.

"She wouldn't have needed it if you did your job and made sure she had backup! If it weren't for that twig of a teacher, she would have been another victim!" Dan yelled.

"We had no way of knowing that Kline was violent!" Blubs yelled back.

Wendy gave a loud whistle and then spoke. "Dad, Sheriff! This is a hospital! Quiet down!" She whispered. "Dad it was my fault for going without backup."

Dan hung his head while Blubs said. "Well there won't be any reprimand in your file. Mayor Taylor insists that I give you a promotion! Can't say I disagree."

While this was something Wendy had wanted something else came to her mind. "The last thing I saw before I blacked out was Grey. Is he okay?"

"He called the station as soon as he found you. Since you've been here, he's been in the hall waiting or at the school only going home to get a shower and a change of clothes. That is one dedicated boyfriend you got there." After Blubs said that Dan growled.

"Where is he now?"

"I asked him to get us some coffee." Dan said crossing his arms. "Wendy, I don't know if that guy is man enough for you."

Before Wendy could respond Grey walked in holding two cups of coffee. "Wendy you're awake!" There was a lingering silence in the room. "Could you gentlemen give us a few minutes alone? There is something private we need to talk about." As Dan left, he growled at Grey as he took the coffee. After the door closed Grey turned to Wendy and said. "Don't you ever scare me like that again. With all the things I've seen since I left New Haven nothing comes close to that scene I found in that house!"

"Grey…I can't promise that. You know how dangerous my job can be even without the weirdness." Wendy stared down at her bandages.

Grey pulled a chair next to Wendy's bed and held her hand. "Wendy I just…I'm going to just say it. Since you told me that people think we're dating it was like a switch was flipped. We've seen each other and worked together for months and I can't help but think that we can be more. All I want to do is try, have a few real dates, and if nothing comes of it, we go back to a working friendship."

Wendy look right into Grey's eyes. "When I had Kline down on the floor for a moment, I thought of ending him right there but then for the first time in years instead of the friends I lost the only thing I thought about was 'Grey wouldn't want me to do this.' I've been so wrapped up in my mission I've hardly done anything else, but they would want me to live my life. So, yeah let's go out. I'm going to be recovering for a while so there is really nothing standing in the way."

"Uh, great! So how about I take you to wherever you want after they let you out of here."

"I better think of something then but just knowing that Dipper and Mable's killer is going to get what he deserves already is making me feel so much better."

Grey had a confused look on his face. "Wendy, Derick Kline didn't kill Dipper or Mable."

"Of course, he did! He's been killing for five years and he even said that his first victims were twins!"

"Wendy, the twins among the victims were two seventeen-year-old girls."

Wendy felt like the floor was pulled out from under her. "But that means…"

Grey cupped Wendy' chin in his hand. "It just means we still don't know what happened to them. For all we know they could still be alive. At the very least I'm sure they would be proud of what you've done."

Ten years later,

"He was right we are proud of you Wendy." Mabel said.

Wendy smiled. "Thanks. So, we started going out shortly after that." Grey and Amelia came back in shortly after Wendy said this.

"We couldn't find the fairy." Amelia pouted.

Dipper placed his hand on Amelia's shoulder. "I wouldn't worry Amelia. With this town I'm sure you'll get another chance to see one."

As Amelia smiled Wendy said. "You're very lucky Amelia. You get to grow up in this amazing town and because of them, when your grown up you can go to the stars."

Grey then looked into Amelia's eyes. "You are too young to know this Amelia but for a long time going to space has been the dream of a lot of people, but few got to, but it will be a very real possibility for you. The stars are in your reach."

Pacifica applauded. "Very poetic Grey. It must have been very beautiful when you proposed to Wendy."

"Actually, Wendy was the one who proposed."

"Well I gotta hear this." Mabel said.

Wendy seem to look off into nowhere. "Grey and I were dating for a year before I made up my mind.

Nine years ago,

For the past year Wendy and Grey worked together and went out together. Even her dad began to warm up to Grey after he started painting landscapes on old buzz saw blades. After her last date Wendy called Tambry for advice. "…and that's when I realized I want to spend the rest of my life with him."

"After your date was interrupted by a vampire kangaroo?" Tambry said.

Wendy chuckled. "You've been away from Gravity Falls too long. We handled that in like…four and a half minutes. We had coffee right after. But the important thing is I don't know if I can wait for Grey to pop the question."

"Then don't. It's the twenty-first century."

"Yeah but Grey comes from a family with a strong sense of tradition. What if he feels insulted if I ask him? Like that I think he's not man enough to ask me to marry him?"

"Wendy it's sweet that you're thinking about his feelings but the Wendy I know isn't afraid to take what she wants. You faced criminals, ghosts, and monsters…which include blood sucking marsupials. You're not going to let fear stand between you and the man you love, right?"

"Right!" Wendy said standing up. "I know what I want for my life and who I want in it! I will propose! I'll save up money for a ring and ask Grey to marry me!"

Wendy saved for two months to buy a silver band. She sat at her desk looking at it. "Now how do I want to propose? Should I take Grey to The Club and ask him during a romantic dinner? No that's not me, it's too sappy and overdone. I should just ask him next time I see him. But if it's in too public a place I might make him feel awkward, I don't want him to say yes just because people are watching. Why does this have to be so hard?" Wendy groaned.

Blubs and Durland came in. "Corduroy where are the files on the drug bust you did last week?" Blubs asked before noticing the ring. "Did Grey…?"

"No. In fact I'm trying to decide how to ask him to marry me. I now have a new appreciation for my dad and every guy who has ever proposed. It's not as easy as the media makes it look."

"You'll think of what you need say." Durland said.

Wendy was surprised. "You guys don't find it weird that the woman is asking the man?"

Blubs took off his shades. "What the two of us have isn't what a lot of people would have called traditional. We're the last ones to cry foul on what you want to do. Don't worry Wendy, your heart will tell you what to do."

A few days later Wendy was with Grey at the mall, the ring in her pocket. "Thanks for helping me get the supplies for my class." Grey said carrying bags of school supplies.

"I'm happy to. I know how much those kids mean to you." Wendy then noticed some signs in the windows of one of the stores. "Edgy on Purpose is going out of business? My friends and I loved that store." Wendy stopped. "Grey…"

"I know that it might feel like the part your past gone but it's just a store that followed fads, it's nothing to cry over." Just then a loud shriek broke the glass and people ran out of the store. "Then again…"

The pair went inside to see the ghost of a woman screaming and flying around the store. "Great a banshee. Grey get that banishing spell ready."

"I need line of sight for that. Can you distract it long enough for me to freeze her?"

"On it!" Wendy dodged a shriek that knock a display over. "Hey you! Yes you, you shrieking violet! I was going to propose! So how about you…" Wendy picked up a pair of socks with skulls on them. "…put a sock it!" Wendy shoved the sock into the ghosts' mouth.

While she tried to pull them out the banshee found itself frozen. After a moment of silence Grey banished the banshee to the afterlife. He then looked at Wendy. "Propose?"

Wendy took the ring out of her pocket and opened the box. "I know that normally the guy is supposed to ask the girl, but you know that there's hardly anything about this town that's normal. We've known each other for almost two years facing things most people would never imagine but the thing I can't imagine is my life going forward without you. So, will you marry me? Will you give me the honor of being Mrs. Grey Frost?"

Grey looked surprised and then smiled. "You just had to beat me to punch. I was going to ask you next month after picked up my grandmother's ring. So yes, I will marry you." He took the ring.

"I had to guess at the size." Wendy said.

"It's only slightly loose. It can be resized easy." Grey leaned in and gave Wendy a kiss. "So, what do you think we should do next?"

It wasn't until the next year that the big day arrived. Wendy was with Tambry getting her wedding dress on. "Now as my maid of honor be honest. I look good right?"

"Yes, Wendy you look beautiful. I understand wanting your wedding to be perfect. Mine was just six months ago." Tambry said zipping the back of the white flowery dress. "I gotta say tough, this doesn't seem like your style."

Wendy closed her eyes for a moment. "Mom wore a dress like this, and I wanted one like it for my wedding since you and I were both little." Wendy looked out the window. "I've been the tomboy my whole life, but this is the one day that I want to be a princess."

Shortly afterward Wendy walked down the aisle with her dad. She stood across from Grey who lifted her veil. The minister began. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered today to join this couple holy matrimony…" Both Wendy and Grey felt as if they were in a dream. "…Do you Grey Eric Frost take this woman as your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health as long you both shall live?"

"I do." Was Grey's answer.

"Do you Wendy Blerble Corduroy take this woman as your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health as long you both shall live?"

Wendy was a little annoyed hearing her middle name she simply said. "I do."

"I hereby pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Eight years later,

"I would love to see your wedding album some time." Mabel said.

"Of course." Wendy said.

At that point a waitress walked up. "Freshen up your coffee sheriff?"

"Yes, please." While the coffee was being poured the four space travelers stared at Wendy. "What? I got to set a good example for my kid."

Dipper shook his head. "We just still can't believe you're the sheriff. I'm just really surprised, and I've met rock people, living lie detectors, and been on a planet with flowers with scratch and sniff petals."

"I got fresh baked bread." Mabel said.

"It was the best way to get the department back into shape." Wendy said sipping her coffee. "As I said before it's an elected position. We had to work hard to get it."

"I was her campaign manager." Grey said.

Wendy then said. "It was seven years ago. Blubs had just earned his pension so he and Durland bought a ranch in Colorado. I far as I know they're still there. I decided early in my career that I needed to become sheriff to protect the town but no one on the force knew that until Bulb's retirement party."

Seven years ago,

"Ye-haw! We're going to be cowboys!" Durland said wearing a cowboy hat.

Blubs chuckled cutting a slice of cake. "Edwin you and I are going to be riding of into the sunset from here on out."

"Still things just won't be the same without you two." Matthews said.

"Our bags aren't packed yet. We're sticking around until my replacement is elected."

"And as the most senior deputy I am the best choice to be the name on the ticket."

"Actually…" Wendy said. "…I'm going to run for sheriff myself."

Everyone heard a record scratch since the deputy who also the D.J. was as stunned as the others. "You think it's that easy Frost?" Matthews crossed his arms at his ex-partner.

"Unlike for the office of mayor our town follows the state laws on who qualifies to run for sheriff which is anyone in the legal age with at least five years of law enforcement experience. I sure you remember having a cake for my five-year anniversary on the force earlier this year." Blubs almost choked on his cake realizing Wendy was right.

"If she's put in charge then this place is going to turn into a boot camp." One officer whispered.

"You mean whip this place into shape?" Sanders said. "Everyone here knows Deputy Frost is the best officer on the force."

Fredricks shared the sentiment. "She's the one us younger officers try to be like."

Sheriff Blubs then said. "Well looks like we have ourselves a race."

Matthews shrugged. "Well don't think it's going to be easy Wendy. I've been on the force for almost twenty years, so I'm the one with far more experience."

Wendy held out her hand for a shake. "Well then let's both have a clean campaign."

Later that night at Wendy and Grey's house the couple were talking about their day. "You know you'll have my support but are you sure about this Wendy? If you become sheriff, then it will add a lot more work. Between stopping crime and protecting the town from anomalies you put yourself under a lot of strain, now you want to run the sheriff's department on top of that." Wendy could see the concern in her husband's eyes.

"Grey, this was always part of the plan. I need to get the department back on track, if we have more competent officers like Fredricks and Sanders then crime will go down and we can focus more on keeping this town safe from the weird stuff. If we can make it clear to most of the creatures that this town is protected, then we could even cut down on our hunts and maybe…" Wendy let her hair down and gave Grey a kiss. "…when things are safer, then we could have more time for each other. Maybe start a family a couple of years after that."

"Well when you put it like that you certainly have may vote." Grey kissed her back.

And so, the campaigning began. "After sheriff Daryl Blubs, I have served the department the longest and I wish to continue to serve as your sheriff." Matthews said in a speech.

Wendy had speeches of her own. "As I'm sure most of you know I was born and raised in this town. At first, I wanted nothing more than to leave but then a friend of mine shown me just how amazing this place is. It was because of him that found that protecting my home is my calling."

Interviews were given. "I have the utmost respect for my opponent. I was her partner when she started. She is a good officer and, in a few years, when she has more experience, she would make a fine sheriff. I hope deputy Frost continues her fine work when I'm elected."

"I have the highest closer rating in the department, and I hope to bring the of the force up to that standard."

People gave their endorsements. "Matthews has always respected the rules of the town pool. Unlike some people." Mr. Poolcheck said.

Mayor Tyler Cutebiker had his own opinion. "I've watched Wendy Frost grow from a little girl into a brave woman. She'll go after crime just like that serial killer she caught two years ago and to that I have just one thing to say. Get 'em! Get 'em!"

After the votes were tallied Wendy had won by a large margin. "I want to thank you all for all the hard work you put in to make this happen." Wendy said to the volunteers of her campaign. "But now begins the hard part; making the Gravity Falls sheriff's department the best it can be!" This was met with cheers.

"Wendy dear, can we have a word alone?" Grey asked. They gone to a secluded spot. "I think I may have found a way to work on making the town safer from the other end. I got word from my father that he found that many of the creatures in this town have pacts with the sorcerer's council. Most of these are non-aggression treaties or oaths to render aid. I could use this to make things easier, now it won't do anything with feral creatures, magical criminals, or anything the council never seen before. I just have to negotiate with them to extend the pact to the town itself."

"And anything that these pacts don't cover will have to face the Frosts and I wouldn't have it any other way." Wendy said.

Seven years later,

"It took six months to get the department the way I promised it would be and three years of talks for Grey to have all the pacts cover the town." Wendy said.

"But all that work was worth it to make this town a safe place for our daughter to grow up." Grey rubbed Amelia's hair.

"Do any of you have kids?" Amelia asked Dipper.

Dipper got a bashful look on his face. After years of facing hardship in space he had become flustered by the question of a small child. "No, Amelia. Not that we don't want kids."

Gideon finished the thought. "Like how your parents wanted to make Gravity Falls safe for you we knew out there wouldn't be safe for our children out in space."

Pacifica then said. "So after…a long talk we decided to wait until we got back to earth to start having families."

"I hope that we'll be having babies soon." Mable said.

"Mabel, I think you'll all make wonderful parents." Wendy then looked Amelia. "It's the single most incredible and important thing you could ever do."

Six years ago,

"Uggggggh." Wendy was not feeling well at all. She had been feeling sick for a couple of days and had just finished throwing up again.

Grey held back her hair. "Feeling better?" he asked as they went into their bedroom.

"No, stupid flu. I'm going to have to take another sick day; I can't give this to the rest of the force."

"Wait, no one else in the department is sick? I thought you got it from there. Otherwise you would have got it from me but I'm not sick and none of my students have been sick. Even Philp Stone as much he wishes he was; he's struggling in science, poor boy."

"Well I had to have gotten it from somewhere. Who has been sick in the past few days, or weeks…? Wait a minute." Wendy thought for a moment. "I think I missed it."

"Missed it, you don't mean the big it?"

"The once a month it yes!" Wendy almost hyperventilated. "We need to know for sure. Will you get me a pregnancy test after class? I'll still call in sick, I can't work like this…" Wendy rushed back to the bathroom.

"I'll get one dear. Hang in there. I love you."

It was later that day when Wendy came out of the bathroom holding the stick with a large red plus on it. "I can hardly believe it. I'm…we're having a baby!"

"Wendy, this is…I have no words!" Grey laughed. "I have to call my parents. Mother is going to be so happy!"

"We have so much to do too. Where is the kid going to sleep?"

"There's a perfectly good room right across the hall."

"But that's your study, your magical reference books…"

"Can go into Ford's old study in the Mystery Shack. That's where I got most of them anyway. Soos will have no problem with us coming over more often."

"True, he never uses it and Soos has too big a heart to say no. There's still a lot to do. Our child is going to learn to use relics, not something you find in a parenting book or online. Are we ready for this?"

"My dear, there is nothing we can't do together."

As the months passed and Wendy entered her second trimester and all their friends and family heard the news. Wendy came into the department wearing a maternity dress. She and Grey both came to the decision that at this point in her pregnancy Wendy would restrict herself to running the sheriff's department while Grey would take care of anomalies with help from Soos who had the most experience in mystery hunts that was not retired. "How are you doing sheriff?" Matthews asked.

Wendy let out a deep breath. "I think I'm finally over the morning sickness. It's just a little frustrating; after getting the force running like how it should be, I find myself stuck behind a desk and soon I'll be taking maternity leave. I finally made this a police force that the town can be proud of but now I'm benched for the foreseeable future."

"Yeah I hate to admit it, but crime is down 45% since you became sheriff. I have to admit I wish I could stay to see what you'll accomplish but I'm sorry to say I'm here to give my resignation from the department."

"If this is because your last evaluation you just need to lose a little weight and you can go back on patrol."

"No, it's my wife. Her asthma has gotten worse so we're moving to New Mexico."

"I'm sorry to hear that. You'll be missed Matthews; you have a lot of friends here. We may have not always got along but you were my partner." Wendy then had a shocked look on her face.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, she's kicking." An ultrasound Wendy had weeks ago showed she was having a girl.

"May I?" Matthews asked. Wendy nodded yes. He put his hand on her belly felt the kick. "Wow, she's strong."

"She half Corduroy, what did you expect?" Wendy said with pride.

Again, months pass into the next year. With her due date near Wendy went on leave, it was late in the evening when Wendy sent up a video call to her old friend. "Hey Tambry, you there?"

"Yep, wow look at us both. We look like a couple of overfed whales." Tambry was also pregnant with her first child only due a couple months after Wendy.

"You're not fat babe!" Robbie said off screen.

"Yes, I am! I ate a whole pizza just five minutes ago!" Tambry was beginning to cry.

"Tam we're both eating for two, and our hormones are all out of whack." Wendy said taking a bite out a donut. "I mean I avoided these for years to avoid the stereotype but now I keep having cravings for 'em."

"I didn't know the donut shop had yellow frosting." Tambry said.

"It's honey mustard." Grey said looking up from a painting he was making.

"The point is I'm glad we're having babies together. Whenever you guys come visit from Salem to see us and your parents your kid is going to have a playmate…" Wendy felt pain and looked down. "…Grey, my water broke! I think it's time!"

"I, I'll get the car started and grab the overnight bag!" said almost running into a wall.

"Tambry…"

"It's okay just send me lots of pictures! Go!" Tambry hung up.

In the car Grey tried to take Wendy's mind of the pain. "I'm sure this is nothing to you. You've been clawed, stabbed, and beaten. Is labor really that much worse?"

"Grey, shut up and drive." Wendy said gritting her teeth.

Hours later the Corduroys were waiting in the hall. Wendy's brothers had moved out by now, but they were all nervous. Grey came into the waiting room cradling his arm. "They are fine, my hand fell asleep in Wendy's grip and I need to wait for the circulation to return."

"Grey, can we see them?" Dan asked.

"Of course, but please keep quiet, it's still early in the morning and the baby is asleep right now."

In the room Wendy was holding her baby wrapped in a pink blanket and wore a small pink hat. She smiled as she watched her sleep until she noticed the company. "Hey Dad, guys say hello to Amelia."

"You named her after your mother." Dan whispered with a tear in his eye.

"Wendy you should get some sleep too. You must be exhausted." Grey said placing his hand on her shoulder.

"I am but I just want to watch her a little longer. Seeing her like this with you here, it feels like my life is complete."

Grey looked at his daughter. "I know what you mean."

Five years later,

"April 14th, 4:47 a.m. 2023. That is a time forever etched in my heart." Wendy said sniffing slightly. "Things went as expected for us after that until you guys showed up yesterday."

"Wendy thanks for telling us about all this." Gideon said. "With everything thing going on we only got to hear about what happened while we were gone after the press conference from our families. For years we had no idea what we would be coming back to."

Dipper nodded in agreement. "Hearing all this from you Wendy, it feels like our lives can get close to something like normal."

"You're welcome." Wendy said. "How long until Trigger gets back? I'm sure he'll want to get you guys to work right away building ships and ray guns."

Mabel tapped her chin. "Sometime late this afternoon I think."

"He's going to want us to show him inside Ixia." Pacifica added. "We should ask him for our weapons back. Our time in Isoban had drilled it into us not to let those sit out of reach." As she said that Dipper covered his burn mark while Gideon wrung his hands.

"Well that should give us time to visit the Mystery Shack. Soos said on the phone last night that he and Melody would be busy getting the place clean for a private tour to show all the changes he made over the years."

"Then that sounds like just the thing to do. You guys don't mind a detour, right?" Mabel asked the agents.

"As long as you're at town hall when agent Trigger gets back." One of the agents answered.

As they got up Pacifica looked around. "Lazy Susan retired, didn't she? I haven't seen her here."

"Years ago." Grey answered. "She in Florida now."

The group arrived at the familiar tourist trap. "You were right Mabel. You always said we'd see this place again." Dipper said to his sister.

"Dudes!" Soos in the Mr. Mystery suit ran up and hug the twins. He had fully grown his mustache. "Oh, I missed you guys!"

"That's great Soos. Need to breath." Mabel gasp for breath from the intense hug.

After Soos let go he kept looking over them. "They sure have grown haven't they Soos?" Wendy said.

"Sure have." Was Soos' reply. "Dipper the Pterodactyl Bros shirt should definitely fit you now.

"It's good to see you man." Dipper said as they gave each other a fist bump.

"You guys remember my wife Melody, right?"

"Hey guys." Melody said as she walked up with a thirteen-year-old boy walking with her.

"And this is our son Stanley."

The boy had light brown hair and tan skin. He wore a light blue shirt and black shorts and a mystery shack hat. "Hi, you're my dad's best friends, right? He's told me stories about you my whole life."

"Nice to meet you Stanley." Dipper then turned to Soos. "You named him after Grunkle Stan huh?"

Soos just laughed. "I call him Grandpa Stan." Stanly said.

As they made their way to the shack Mabel noticed a bronze statue of a large pig in front of the porch. "Waiting Waddles." Mabel read aloud.

"Honey I'm so sorry." Gideon said as Mabel cried into his chest.

"How?" Mabel asked Soos.

"Just old age." Soos said empathically. "He waited at that spot for you every day until dark. I had snacks here for tourists to feed him."

"Mabel, he lived a full life." Wendy said. "Pigs only live to be about ten and he was a year old when you got him."

Mabel continued to cry. "I knew him all my life." Stanley said. "When I was little, he would give me rides around house. He got really big."

Amelia tugged at Mabel's leg. "I never met him, but he does look cute."

"He'd want you to be happy Mabel." Pacifica said.

"I'm sorry it took me so long Waddles but I'm finally home." Mabel kissed her hand and then touched the statues forehead.

Dipper then said. "Mabel, I know you need to work through your grief but look over there." Dipper pointed to the door as Stanley opened as Amelia walked by, he made a funny face making her laugh. "Waddles might not be the only one we may have lost here at home but right now we have to focus on making a bright future for them and our own kids when we have them. We owe that to everyone who has waited for us. Wendy dedicated her life to making Gravity Falls a safe place for Amelia and now we have to do the same thing to this whole galaxy for our children and their children." Mabel dried her tears and gave a determined nod. She would focus on the future with her family.


	8. Wrestling with Impulse

Chapter 8

Wrestling with Impulse

It has been about two weeks since the crew of the Ixcia have returned home. It that time the group have become worldwide celebrities and they had to balance working with industries and governments to get the expansion of humanity into space but also appearances with hopes it would foster the good will to speed up the former. Dipper and Gideon had taken Ixcia and Trigger to New York to address the United Nations, while Mabel and Pacifica stayed at Gravity Falls and were expecting a few appointments at the Northwest Penthouse. "So, who's coming again?" Mabel asked.

Pacifica looked at her tablet. "Let's see, we got a representative from a group of European companies that want to learn what we know about advanced computer tech so they can start manufacturing it, and a NASA scientist who wants to go over the plans for construction of more jump drive ships."

There was a buzz and the new butler of the Northwest opened the door. "Hey guys." Wendy said. "I ran into these two who said they have some appointments with you. Mabel, I think you'll be really happy to see them."

"Surprise!" two women said. One was Asian with black hair and glasses and wore a lab coat with the NASA logo and the other was a large muscular woman in a pink business suit and brown hair in a ponytail.

"Candy! Grenda!" Mabel ran up to them as the three friends hugged. "How'd you guys pull this off?"

Grenda smiled. "Marius was happy to send me to represent his business partners. They couldn't complain, it's hard to say no to Baroness Grenda von Fundshauser."

"And I am one of the top scientists in NASA. It wasn't hard to convince my bosses that I was the right one for the job." Candy said.

"I have to get back to work I'll see you girls later." Wendy said as she left.

"Well I hope you girls don't mind catching up while we have private fittings with Nina Bloom." Pacifica said.

"I love her work!" Grenda said.

"She's one of the worlds top designers, why is she coming here?" Candy asked.

"She's an acquaintance of my mom and she agreed to sell us dresses we need for a party were going to this week." Pacifica said.

"Yes, one does not turn down an invitation to Buckingham Palace." Mabel said in a haughty voice. There was laughter like nothing had changed in the years the girls were apart.

Later after Nina arrived Pacifica, Grenda, and Candy talked while Mable looked over two dresses. "Candy, Grenda, about the teasing I did when we were kids…" Pacifica began to apologize.

Candy held up her hand. "You already said you were sorry years ago Pacifica. But I guess you forgot."

Grenda then said. "You were there for Mabel when we couldn't be. We both heard on the news that you're her sister-in-law and as far as we're concerned all's forgiven."

Nina asked Mabel. "Which one do you want? You've been looking at them for ten minutes."

"I'm not sure. I don't want to rush. What do you girls think?" Mabel pointed to a slim black dress. "This one is definitely sexy; Gideon would really like it." She then pointed to a blue dress with an elegant skirt. "But this one is more fitting with meeting the royal family. I need to make a good impression to get England's help." Candy and Grenda looked shocked. "What?"

"It's just we've hardly seen you think so carefully about something before." Candy answered.

"I learned the hard way not to be too impulsive." Mabel looked at Grenda. "Do you still love wrestling?"

"Of course!" Grenda said.

"Then you would have loved this misadventure. I still get sore thinking about it." Pacifica said.

Mabel began the story. "It started with a cargo run to a planetoid called Vobus. Simple stuff that we handled hundreds of time before. After we got Pacifica back Gideon really applied himself and just graduated early from Ixcia's lessons so I figured staying the night and going to good place to eat to celebrate wouldn't be a big deal…"

Ten years ago,

"Congratulations Gideon!" Dipper, Mabel, and Pacifica cheered. They were in a restaurant with lots of monitors and a large platter of tasty food on their table.

"Thanks guys." Gideon said. "I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the free time I now have."

Ixcia spoke through the Scantrix. "It has been enjoyable seeing to your education Gideon, just as it was for Dipper and Mabel's. I am going miss teaching you all."

"There's still plenty you can teach us Ixcia." Dipper said.

"Yeah." Gideon added. "You just gave us what's a basic education out here." Gideon thought for a moment. "I just realized that in two years I'll legally be an adult. We may find a way home but the kids that were taken from Earth are now long gone. At least we're all in better shape to find our way home."

All the screens showed an ad. Four aliens were in a hexagonal ring in an open-air stadium. "Come to Belladix Stadium tomorrow for the Super Nova Slamfest brought to you by the Galactic Wrestling Association! You can join in this tag team tournament and fight for the chance to face our reigning champion Lady Fisterella for the grand prize of five hundred Kiloquan!" The four alien wrestlers rushed a woman with silver skin and yellow stripes. She wore a pink leotard and had four arms. Her brown hair was in a pixie cut. Fisterella grabbed each of the other wrestlers in one hand and threw them out of the ring.

"Come and face me! That's if you have the guts!" the champ said pointing at the camera.

"That looks like fun to watch." Mabel said.

Pacifica just groaned. "My dad told me that stuff is fake. There's something familiar about her though."

"It may be fake back home but who knows here." Gideon looked at the screen. "I've been working out since I got here. I think I could take her."

Dipper sighed. "I wish you could Gideon, we could use the money. But we can't stick around, the Imperium is closing in on this system and lots of ships are already leaving. We're heading out first thing in the morning."

"I know. Still this has been great, thanks for arranging this Mabel."

Mabel gave a big smile. "I was happy to."

The next morning the Ixica was ready to depart. "Vobus control 43, this is the Ixcia, we're ready to depart. Please release the docking clamps." Dipper signaled.

"Negative." The controller said. "According to the Space Traffic Bureau you owe one hundred kiloquan in docking fees."

"That's impossible! We've only been docked here since yesterday! No one would come here if they had to pay that much!"

"According to their records you've been docked in that spot for a year."

An hour later the crew was in the common area. Ixcia had news. "I have found the reason for the discrepancy in the STB records, one year ago a private passenger ship named the Ixcio was docked at this location. It exploded in an accident six hours after landing."

"So, this is a fine for another ship that no longer exists!?" Shouted Gideon.

"We can fix this little mix up easy." Mabel said. "It's just a mistake of one little syllable."

"That may not be so simple." Ixcia said. "The Vobus bureaucracy has been said to be…challenging. Some reports have said that it can take weeks to process a ship's registration."

Pacifica crossed her arms. "We can't wait weeks. The Imps could be here in days." She then went to the console. "We may just have to grit our teeth and pay the fee with our whole emergency fund."

"It was a smart idea of yours to set that up Pacifica." Dipper said blush. "Odysseus Enterprises has really improved since you started handling our finances."

Pacifica smiled. "My parents had been grooming me to take over Northwest Industries my whole life. I'm just glad the lessons they taught me are doing…some…good." Pacifica looked worried. "We're short! Where did that money go?"

Mabel looked embarrassed. "That's my fault. When I found out about Gideon's graduation I just went ahead and paid the restaurant in advance so we could get a reservation. It's an emergency fund and we had a party emergency."

"That dinner cost THAT much!?" Pacifica's eye twitched. She had become much more frugal since being made responsible for the budget.

"If I'd known it was that expensive, I would have savored it more." Gideon said.

"Mabel you always do this." Dipper said.

Mabel defended herself. "I was doing something nice!"

"I'm not talking about your old self-centeredness, you got over that a long time ago. I'm talking about your impulse control! You do things without thinking them through! Even when you're doing it for someone else you never think of the consequences your ideas could have. Mabel, we love you, but you're nineteen! It's time you learned that you shouldn't always do the first thing that pops into your head!"

Mable was silent. "What do we do now?" Gideon asked. "We can't do a cargo job if Ixcia is stuck here and nothing we have will sell for enough to pay the fee."

"We go with plan A. I'll try to push through the STB as fast as I can and hope that it isn't as bad as the rumors say." Dipper downloaded the information onto his tablet and left.

"I want to believe in Dipper, but we better come up with a plan B." Pacifica said.

"Already got one!" Mabel pulled up an image of the wrestling tournament they saw an ad for last night. "I registered you two as Mr. Mangle and Princess Pain."

"Uh, Mable. Didn't you hear anything Dipper was saying about making impulsive decisions?" Gideon asked.

"I did think this through! You're strong and had army hand to hand training and Pacifica is like a real ninja! The two of you can win this easy and not only will we pay the fee, but we'll get back the quan I spent from the emergency fund plus more for a tidy profit."

"That's only if things go our way!" Pacifica said. "Mabel this tournament is going to be on the cosmo-net! Everyone will recognize us as fugitives! Every bounty hunter on the planet will be on us! The Imperium might even step up their conquest of this sector just to kill us all!"

"That could happen…" Mabel then got another idea. "…unless… disguises!"

"That could work." Gideon said. "They do wear costumes. And Mabel is great at crafts."

Pacifica could tell that Gideon was still in love with Mabel and was trying to be supportive. "No! I don't care if there's a small chance this could work! You are not going to talk me into this! You hear me? You are not going to talk me into this!"

Twenty minutes later in the STB Dipper was sitting down in the crowded lobby. He looked up an electronic sign that said "Now serving number" with the number 4 on it. He looked at the stub of paper he had with the number four on it, followed by the number 27. "This must be what the DMV back home is like." Dipper moaned. "I just hope Mabel doesn't do anything rash while I'm here. No, she'll be fine. The others are with her."

At Belladix Stadium the rest of the Ixcia crew could hear the roar of the crowd. "I can't believe you two talked me into this!" Pacifica yelled. Her skin was painted green and instead of her visor she now wore a pair of fake antennae. "No one is going to buy this lame disguise! It itches so much!"

Mabel waved Pacifica off. "It's going to work. Now remember just stick to your stage names and everything will be fine. Right Mr. Mangle?"

Gideon's disguise was a black mask that covered his head and had a skull on the forehead and red around the mouth. "I just hope Dipper won't be mad at us for this." They stepped to the arena with several tough looking opponents.

"With your skills and me as your coach there is nothing to worry about."

The MC a man with four tube like ears stood in the center of the ring. "Lifeforms of all ages! Welcome to the GWA Super Nova Slamfest! In this tournament these amateur fighters will face off in a series of tag team bouts until one team faces our undefeated champion Lady Fisterella for five hundred kiloquan!" The crowd cheered. An image of the champ was shown on the jumbotron.

"There is something about her species but with so many drilled into me in the training I can't remember what it is!" Pacifica wracked her brain on what she was forgetting.

"Now a quick overview of the rules. No weapons, cybernetics, or psychic powers allowed! You win if you pin your opponent for a ten count, force them to give up, throw them out of the ring or knock them out. You can tag in your partner if you can make physical contact, but the starting fighter must change with each match. Finally, any injury during the match that accidently results in your opponent's death is grounds for immediate disqualification and for investigation by the local authorities! We're here for good brutal fun! Now for our first match we have the Oggro brothers vs. Mr. Mangle and Princess Pain!"

"Good luck guys! Not that you need it!" Mabel said as Gideon climbed into the ring with a lizard man like Draga was.

Up in the stands Vax was watching the match. "Sometimes you just got to take a break from bounty hunting and treat yourself to some fun." He told the fan next to him. "Let's see what these guys can do."

The match began. The first of Oggro brothers lunged at Gideon mouth open wide. Gideon dodged causing the lizard to try to swipe Gideon off his feet with his tail. But Gideon stepped on it and push his opponent down with one arm pinning his shoulders while the other held his mouth closed. The floating robot referee counted to ten Gideon had won the match. "Next." Gideon said smugly as the crowd cheered.

Meanwhile Dipper's number was finally called, and he entered a room with a very long line. "What was the point of having me wait in the lobby just to have me wait in line?"

"It keeps people from pushing for a place in line sonny." The leafy old man in front of him said.

"Stick to it Dipper, patience is a virtue."

Sometime back at the stadium it was Pacifica's turn to fight. "Next Princess Pain is first against a pair of former space pirates. Now that they paid their debt to society their here for that treasure of five hundred kiloquan! Let's give a yo ho ho for Wokdo!" The MC pointed to a familiar looking yellow muscular alien.

"Wait isn't that the guy that put those shock collars on us?" Mabel asked.

Pacifica gritted her teeth. "It's time for some payback, for all of us!" she made a come at me taunt with her hand.

Wokdo threw a mighty punch but Pacifica wasn't the helpless girl she was five years ago. She grabbed his wrist and swung his arm around to his back where she stood on the pirate's shoulders pulling on the arm. "Hey quit that!" Wokdo demanded in pain as he reach for Pacifica with his other hand.

Pacifica grabbed the other had and pulled on them both. "I can keep this up all day, but I have other matches so do yourself a favor and give up."

"No way!" Wokdo said and them he groaned in pain.

"You must be wondering if this is as painful as the harm you've inflicted on others. How many have pleaded, no begged you to stop? I can make it worse." Pacifica pressed her knees on the sides of Wokdo's head and squeezed. "Now yield!"

The pain was too much. "Okay! I give! I give!"

Pacifica jumped off her the man who hurt her and her friends. "If I find out you have gone back to your old ways, I'll do much worse." Wokdo ran out of the stadium screaming.

"I forget how scary you can be somtimes." Gideon said as Pacifica stepped out of the ring.

"What I did might not have been right, but I had to do it. I'll never let anyone make you guys suffer again if I can help it." Pacifica didn't look at her friends. She couldn't let them see the tears in her eyes.

Dipper finally made it to the end of the line. "How can I help you?" The receptionist asked.

Dipper held up his tablet. "I'm from the cargo ship Ixcia and there's been a mistake. We're being charged a fee for the ship Ixcio which was destroyed. So, can you just cancel that fee, my ship can pay our actual fee and we'll be on our way?"

"I'm sorry sir, but that isn't my job. I must direct you to Mr. Forgu, he can set things straight. His office is number 365 you'll find it somewhere past that door." She pointed to a door at the side of the room.

"Fine, at least I'm making progress." Dipper opened the door and found that the numbers on the offices didn't go in order. As he took a turn looking for the right office the hall split into several directions like a labyrinth. "Oh, come on!" He yelled which echoed down the halls.

Meanwhile Gideon's punches were having no effect on an alien that was the same species as the bartender Mabel and Pacifica met last year. "Go ahead and tag your partner in! She won't be able to do anything either! That money is mine!" it wobbled. Instead Gideon grabbed his opponent and began lifting him even as it slid through his fingers. "Wait what are you doing?" Gideon grunted as he threw the slime ball out of the ring with a splat.

After it pulled itself back together the ref pointed to Gideon. "Winner."

"Way to go Mangle!" Mabel cheered.

"This is getting kinda fun!" Gideon said.

"Just two more matches and we can face the champ! This plan might actually work Mable!" Pacifica jumped with excitement.

Up in the stands Vax ate a snack. "Mr. Mangle and Princess Pain might actually be able to take on the champ! The last match is a two on one!" the fan next to him said.

Vax swallowed. "They're good I'll give them that but without weapons they don't stand a chance. I'm not just saying that as a fan, with my experience as a bounty hunter I faced her kind before, and no one can beat them in hand to hand."

Back at the beastly blackhole of bureaucracy called the STB Dipper was still wandering the halls. "Really wish I had a Manotaur with me. They could be good with mazes or at least help me break down walls until I find this office! How does anyone find anything here?"

"That's the point sonny, to make guys like you give up. These guys hate dealing with people especially those that say the system made a mistake." The same leafy old man was mopping the floors.

"You? You work here and you have to go through all that?"

"It's not that bad. I get to meet interesting people."

"I don't suppose you know where office 365 is. I need to get this fixed fast, my friends and I can't stay here."

"You seem like a good young man. I just passed by it. Keep going down this hall until you reach the second intersection and turn right, it's the fifth door on the left. But I wouldn't get your hopes up. That Frogu is a real stickler."

"Thanks. I just hope he's not out for lunch or something." Dipper hoped he would be finished with this mess soon.

It was the final round of the tournament and Pacifica was pinning her three-horned opponent. "Tag in!" he shouted to his partner at the far side of the ring who stretched out a long purple tentacle.

"Hey that's not fair!" Mable shouted. The new opponent came in and unleashed a flurry of lashes on Pacifica. "You can do it Princess!"

Pacifica did a sliding kick followed by an uppercut knocking the tentacled fighter out. The MC then got in the ring. "There you have it, folks! Princess Pain and Mr. Mangle will go on to face Lady Fisterella in the final round! They will have thirty minutes to tend to their injuries before going on to the final bout! Get those refills quick because you don't want to miss this!"

"You guys have done great!" Mabel said rubbing a salve on Pacifica's bruises that healed them. "Just one more fight and our problems are over."

Pacifica smiled and tapped her fake antenna causing it to bounce back and forth. "I hate to admit it Mabel, but I think I was wrong. This was a good plan."

"I almost feel sorry for Fisterella. Against the both us what can she do?" Gideon said with a chuckle.

Back at the Space Travel Bureau Dipper entered the office he was looking for. "Mr. Forgu, right?"

"Yes, how can help you?" Mr. Forgu was a small blue man with five eyes. His voice was monotone, practically emotionless.

"I'm Dipper Pines of the Ixcia. My ship is being charged a fee for another ship."

"You're saying that we've made a mistake?"

"A simple one that could happen to anyone. Last year at where we're docked a ship called the Ixcio was destroyed. Same spot with a ship with practically the same name, this all happened by coincidence."

Mr. Forgu thought for a second. "Yes, that meteor shower, that caused a backlog for weeks. Well, I guess I have no choice but to bring up the forms to correct this…error. First you need fill out form GX-8725 in triplicate, then there's form DDC-9 countersigned by my supervisor, it should only take twenty-six hours for him to get back to us. After that is HV-784…"

"Sorry to interrupt but how many forms do I need to go through for this?"

"No more than four hundred not counting duplicates. The process should take no more than three or four days if we get approved at each step."

"And if we don't?"

"Then we have to start all over."

"And your higher ups can say no just because they wouldn't want to admit that this happened. From the look of things, you just have to tap that icon on your computer and we're done." Dipper point to the screen on Mr. Forgu's desk.

Mr. Forgu had a tiny frown. "If I start making exceptions then this whole place would fall apart."

A fantasy flashed through Dipper's head. He was at the controls of Ixcia that had more weapons then in reality. Dipper laughed like a super villain as he blasted the STB into a crater. "I'll give you fall apart." Dipper muttered under his breath.

At that time at Belladix Stadium Fisterella climbed into the ring. "Lifeforms of all ages! Your champion!" The MC said as the crowd cheered.

"Yeah she's going down." Mabel said.

Then two girders were lowered into the ring. "What's with those?" Gideon asked.

The MC pointed to the girders. "Please note that these are solid steel." Fisterella then twisted them into an interlinked pretzel.

"Now I remember!" Pacifica said as her eyes sunk. The Felggur strategy on killing her kind was always to attack at long range and to avoid close quarters at all costs! Her species is the strongest in this galaxy!"

Gideon broke into a cold sweat. "And you're just remembering this now?!"

"This is the first time I fought one!" Pacifica then said. "If you give me a boost, I can jump over her. Maybe if attack from both sides she can't handle us."

The bell rang and they executed the plan but Fisterella grabbed Pacifica in midair with her upper arms while punching Gideon in the gut. "You two really didn't think that would work, did you?"

"She not just strong, she's fast." Pacifica murmured.

Fisterella laughed. "You're the strongest two in the tournament? I told the association that this would be a waste of my time, I'm the strongest of my people so no one will beat me! I'll be champ until the day I die!" She grabbed Gideon's leg and lifted him up too.

The MC talked from Fisterella's side of the ring. "It the champs tag team move! The Clobber Clapper!" She began to beat the Pacifica and Gideon together. She then threw them on the ground. "I better take my time. Don't want the fun to end too quickly."

Mabel was panicking. "No, no! Dipper was right! I should've looked her up, now my friends are getting hurt and it's my fault!" Mabel threw a towel into the ring.

"What was that about?" Fisterella asked.

"You know! I'm their coach so I'm throwing in the towel to say we give up!"

The MC thought for a moment. "That is a great idea! A way to surrender if the fighter is too disoriented to so. We'll add that to the GWA rules for next season, until then only the fighter can forfeit."

"I don't think they can, I broke their jaws." Fisterella laughed as she gave more punches knocking the fake antenna off Pacifica.

"No! Stop please!" Mabel cried.

Vax saw the what happened to Pacifica on the jumbotron. "Wait a minute…"

That moment Dipper was still going over forms. "These are starting to blur together." Dipper said.

"Dipper, there is an emergency." Ixcia was on Dippers comm. "The rest of the crew are at the tournament and Pacifica's identity may have just been exposed and according to ticket data Vax is there as well. She and Gideon are in no condition to fight him when he decides to attack."

"Meet me here and get the sick bay ready, I'll have those clamps unlocked in a minute." Dipper said.

Mr. Forgu looked annoyed. "Mr. Pines we can't just rush through procedure…"

Dipper used his power gauntlet to smash his chair. "Listen here you little pencil neck! I wasted enough time on your procedures!"

"And people wonder why we make things difficult!" Forgu looked nervous. "It's to keep the crazies like you out!"

"Keep them out? This whole system you love makes people crazy! Now you listen to me, my family is in danger! You are going to unlock my ship and then you are going to take me to the nearest exit and if you don't then I'm going to break your face! Do you understand me?!" The little bureaucrat wordlessly tapped the controls of his computer and then walked to the door. "That's what I thought." Dipper was satisfied.

A few minutes later Fisterella reached for Gideon's mask. "I'm getting bored, time for me to finish humiliating you and go home."

She pulled his mask off for all to see. "I should have known! How could I have been fooled like this!" Vax said as he used the jet in his leg to fly down to the ring.

"What, you think you can get the five hundred if you beat me instead of them?" Fisterella asked ready for a new fight.

"No, those two are worth way more than that." Vax said. "And I must say I'm sorry, I really am a big fan of yours, but I must get my rep back." Vax then shot Fisterella with a stun blast from his gun.

"Vax!" Mabel shouted while she shot her gun into the air. She then climbed in the ring and stood between Vax and her friends. "My family was hurt by my mistake; I won't let them get killed for it too!"

"You really think you can protect them both by yourself?" Vax asked.

"This is not how I saw this match going folks!" The MC said. "Who will win? The coach or the bounty hunter?"

"Mabel!" Mabel looked up hearing her name and the familiar roar of Ixcia's engines. Dipper flew down pointing his gauntlet at Vax. "I got Pacifica. Grab Gideon and let's get out of here!"

"Right!" Mabel wrapped her arm around Gideon fired her grappling hook to Ixcia while Dipper took Pacifica into his arms and flew up. Dipper made it up first with Mabel not far behind.

"No, you don't!" Vax fired his grappling claw arm. Things seemed to go into slow motion as his claw made a deep cut in Mabel's back and through her hair making her let go of her gun. She and Gideon began to fall as she bled heavily.

"Mabel!" Dipper shot Vax's claw that had hooked onto the ship. He then leapt off and rocketed down. He then wrapped his arms around Mabel and Gideon and flew back up at maximum speed. Once he landed, he said. "Ixcia time to go!"

"Pines!" Dipper turned to see Vax flying almost at the cargo bay door. "You're not going to escape me this time!" He didn't see that Mabel's gun had made it back to the ship and was in Gideon's reach. He took it and shot Vax's cybernetic leg and the bounty hunter plummeted.

As the door closed Dipper yelled. "Soostron! Help me get them to sickbay!"

The next thing Mabel knew she woke up on her stomach in sickbay with Dipper pacing nearby. "Dipper?" she said weakly.

"Mabel thank goodness! If that cut was any deeper, you could have been paralyzed or worse!"

"Are Pacifica and Gideon okay?"

"They were beaten badly but they'll recover in a couple of days."

Ixcia's avatar appeared. "Dipper, Mabel. There is a news report on what happened."

Ixcia made screen showing the news. "This is Soothsayer version 506.73 with the latest update on the attack on Belladix Stadium. Wanted heretics infiltrated a GWA tournament and shot the champion."

"That was Vax!" Mabel yelled trying to get up but stopped due to the pain.

"Easy Mabel! You still need to rest for at least a couple more days!" Dipper said.

"The heroic bounty hunter who chased the fugitives off is in recovery after receiving a cybernetic replacement for his shattered spine. The heretics remain at large." The Soothsayer said.

"Ixcia turn it off. Imp propaganda at its finest."

"Dipper you were right. I made a rash decision and it almost got us killed!"

"You're right it did, and I wish it didn't take something like this to get you to learn to slow down and think now and then. But thinking too much on things isn't going help you either. Making clones to get Wendy to fall for me taught me that."

"How bad is it really?"

"Mabel there's no way this wound isn't going to leave some big scars. You'll have them for the rest of your life."

"At least they won't let me ever forget this lesson."

Ten years later,

"And I never did." Mabel said. "That's also why I don't wear anything backless."

"Is that when started wearing your hair shorter too? Candy asked.

"Yes, and it's a good look for her." Pacifica said.

Grenda looked like she was on the verge of tears. "Wow Mabel, we had closes calls before but there was never any permanent damage."

"I'm not ashamed of my scars anymore. When Gideon caresses my back, he doesn't feel my scars he feels his wife, who he loves and loves him back. So, I made my choice, I'll take the black dress."

Pacifica however had other ideas. "That's sweet of you Mabel but my mom is paying for these so you can have both. Take the blue one to the palace and save the black dress for your next date night. I got a fancy dress for the party too and a little red number that will drive Mason wild."

Mabel smiled. "Best of both worlds! I don't have to think twice about that!"


	9. Hidden Motives

Chapter 9

Hidden Motives

The Gravity Falls Museum of History wasn't normally open at night, but this was a very special occasion. Preston Northwest invited the shareholders of Northwest Industries to a party to talk about joining his daughter and son in-law in the aerospace industry. "Remember the last time I wore a tuxedo?" Dipper asked his wife.

"Of course. Crazy ghost, breaking my family curse, I think that's when I not only first saw you as a friend but also my crush." Pacifica answered wearing her red dress.

"And you both have come a long way since then." Preston said.

"With hopefully more to come." The man who said this, wore a grey business suit and rose-tinted glass. He had light brown hair and a thin beard and was Wendy's age. Next to him was a muscular Hispanic man in a black t-shirt and blue jeans. And sunglasses.

Preston recognized this man. "Ah, Martin. I'd like you to meet my daughter Pacifica and her husband. Pacifica, Mason, this is Martin Dale. He has been the majority shareholder of Northwest Industries for the past four years. The other gentleman is Raul his bodyguard."

"Preston please, you know I prefer to be called Marty." Dale said.

"And you can call me Dipper." He extended his hand and they shook.

"I'm looking forward to working with you. Honestly you didn't need to throw this Preston."

Pacifica explained. "This was more for the partners that have been with Dad a long time. Northwest Industries has no experience in aerospace, so it is a risk. We're holding it here to show them just a little of what's out there."

"I also wanted to say I told you so to the board that pushed for having my daughter declared dead." Preston said smugly.

Dipper then gestured to several display cases. "This is also opening night for a world tour of my personal collection of alien artifacts. Nothing that's fancy or expensive but things I've picked up that you'd have to go to another galaxy to find with cultural value to the people who made them."

"After this week these artifacts will be off to places like San Francisco, Paris, The Smithsonian, cites and museums all over the world. Frankly I'm just glad to get this stuff out of our room on Ixcia." Pacifica said.

"So, this is the entire collection?" Dale asked.

"All but one piece, something I promised to give someone." Dipper couldn't help but think that he failed Veritas but somehow some way he would give that tablet to Stellara.

"I see. When do I meet your sister and her husband?"

"They're in Tokyo for a couple of days for conference with scientists from all over the world. Those guys are going to be so impressed that our translator implants let Mabel and Gideon understand all their languages."

"Now that is something my own company Dalesoft is interested in. The software in those must hundreds of times more advanced than our own translator app. To let you understand any alien language you never even heard before in an instant."

"Well there were a few races that we still needed help to talk to like the people who made this." Dipper pointed to a display case with a simple ornament made of woven strands of different colors in the shape of a diamond with a circle in it with lines crisscrossing the interior of the circle. "They're called the Kelmogi, a friendly race that had no vocal cords. They communicated by directly transmitting their thoughts to others."

"They could read minds?" Preston asked.

"No, their telepathy could only send thoughts any could hear in their heads. But since the implants were designed to translate spoken languages, they had to use a wrist mounted writing to talk device to be understood by other species.

Pacifica stared at the ornament. It was the only artifact she almost said no to being put on display. She wanted the Kelmogi's story to be told but it was given to the Ixcia crew just before the turning point of her and Mason's relationship to being more than just friends.

Nine years ago,

The Ixcia was docked on a tower in one of the Kelmogi's cities and people were scrambling to get on any ship and leave the planet. The crew was standing in between the mob and the cargo bay door. "We can't understand you! Especially if you all talk at once!" Gideon yelled hearing multiple voices in his head.

One Kelmogi stepped forward. Like the rest of her people she had black skin, a large forehead, eyes that glowed blue, three clawed fingers on each hand, long legs with two toes each, and no mouth. She wore a white robe and a large silver band on her arm. She traced on the surface of the band and a melodious voice spoke from it. "I am Skiradi of the Elder Council. How many of my people can board before the Imperium arrives?"

"Ixcia, how many Kelmogi can we carry if we double up the crew and use every room except for sensitive or dangerous areas?" Dipper asked.

"No more than forty-six. Any more would mean risks to all aboard." Was Ixcia's response.

"How do we choose who to take?" Mable asked worried.

"Children and at least one parent for each first." Skiradi said. "Next are the few sick and injured. Then the elderly including me to form a government in exile. The remaining will be those that are least able to make it to the next ship. The solders wish to stay and form a resistance."

The group nodded. Then Pacifica said. "Right. Ixcia warm up the engines and cloak once we lift off in case the Imps get here before we're finished."

"The injured should come with me to sick bay." Mabel said.

"Let's move people!" Dipper ordered. After the forty-six were loaded aboard Ixcia took flight and cloaked. Dipper, Pacifica and Gideon were on the bridge with Skiadi. "Pacifica keep your eyes on the scanners, we don't want any other evac ships hitting us by mistake."

"On it!" Pacifica said heading to navigation.

"I'll keep an eye on the engines." Gideon took that station.

"Everyone's secure here in sickbay." Mabel said over the comm.

Dipper looked out through the bridge dome seeing ships being shot down by Imperial cruisers. Everyone wanted to help but they had the forty-six onboard to think about. Once they cleared the atmosphere Pacifica asked. "Skiradri where should we take your people now?"

"All fleeing ships are to rendezvous at our mining colony in the Hewtru system." Skiradi said.

"That's five days travel from here. Setting course."

Ixica began the hyper jump. "Hyper Jump in 5…4…3…2…1."

Skiradi looked at each human. "I want to thank you all on behalf of my people. When our forces were betrayed by the third fleet and Imperium broke through our lines most off-worlders left as soon as they could, but you stayed and helped with the evacuation."

"We couldn't just leave people that didn't want to live under those guys." Dipper said.

Things were crowded on the Ixcia over the past few days. Gideon bunked with Dipper and Pacifica slept in Mabel's room. The Kelmogi got nourishment through photosynthesis so the lights were on almost all the time. On the fourth day after getting some their passengers to move so Pacifica could set up the usual training sessions. "Come on Dipper you need to do better than that."

"I think today is the day I finally am going to win a round against you Paz." Dipper said.

"We'll see." Pacifica took a combat stance. Dipper threw a punch, but Pacifica dodged.

As Pacifica tried to counter Dipper grabbed her shoulder and put his leg in a position to trip her. With one push Pacifica found herself on the floor with Dipper leaning over her pinning her shoulders his face just two inches away from hers. All either them could do was stare into each other's eyes and blush. The moment was broken when they heard giggling and the word "Kifi" in their heads. They turn to see the green and blue glowing eyes of several Kelmogi children staring at them. In the other direction Mabel had a big smile while Gideon clapped. "Uh, good move Dipper. I think that's enough for now." Pacifica said.

"Ri…Right!" Dipper said still blushing as he got up. "I better see how everyone in the upper decks are doing."

"I'm heading up too. We've be running the engines hard the past few days." Gideon said.

"Yeah, I'll put up the mat." Pacifica then thought. _"My reflexes didn't kick in. How did he do that?"_

"Pacifica, why didn't you tell Dipper how you feel?" Mabel asked.

Pacifica was shocked. "I can't tell him! Mabel even if he does like me if he touches me when I'm not expecting it, say like if we're married and in bed together sleeping and he rolls over, I could really hurt him!"

"But he just did that, and nothing happened!"

"I don't know how that happened."

"Maybe you should talk to Ixcia. Have your next session early. Just head to my room." Mabel looked at the children. "Meanwhile I'll tell them another story."

"That's a good idea." Pacifica said and then went to the upper deck running into Skiradi.

"Pacifica, I want thank you loaning your room to me and the other older Kelmogi." Skiradi said. "It is a beautiful room especially that painting."

"It was a birthday present from Dipper." Pacifica said with a blush. She was about to go into Mabel's room but stopped to ask Skidari something. "Skidari, I heard the children say something in your language. What does kifi mean?"

Skidari tilted her head. "Why would they say that? It is a word we took from the first alien race we met. It was something we had no word for since it was something that needed a mouth to do. Kifi means kiss."

"Thank you." Pacifica said turning away into Mabel's room hoping Skidari didn't see her turn red from so much blushing. "Ixcia I really need a session now."

"Of course, Pacifica." Ixcia said as her avatar appeared. "I have been watching what has been happening today and I am here to listen. Is what Mabel said true? Are you in love with Dipper?"

"Yes, at first back home on earth it was a crush I never acted on it. Dipper and I were in different social classes and my father would never approve of a relationship between us. After we came out here none of that was a problem but…Dipper deserves someone better than a murderer like me."

"You were not responsible for those deaths. The felggur had you under thier control. Dipper knows this. What you did should not factor into a potential relationship with him."

"What about my reflexes? I know they didn't react today in training but what if that was a onetime fluke?"

"You have been showing a great deal of control with almost fifty Kelmogi aboard. You have not injured one. As for what happened at training you have been with Dipper and the others for two years. Your body may have adapted to know what you do in your mind. That they will not hurt you and you will not hurt them, you know why."

"Because I'm in control of me."

"Pacifica you have made great progress these past two years. All data points suggest that we try reducing our sessions to once a week."

"You really think I'm doing that much better?"

"Yes."

The next day they arrive in the Hewtru system. "So which planet is this mining colony?" Dipper asked.

"None of them." Skidari said. "There is an asteroid belt in this system. The colony is inside the largest one."

Ixcia flew into the belt with her shields at full. The asteroid colony was massive, easily the size of a major city with large holes leading deep inside. "Hewtru mining colony this is the cargo vessel Ixcia. We have almost fifty Kelmogi refugees aboard. Please grant us permission to dock." Mabel asked on the comms.

The reply came in. "Permission granted." Ixcia displayed a map of the colony. "Proceed to this tunnel for docking."

"Roger that." Mabel said as they flew in and landed.

As the cargo bay door opened Skidari and the Kelmogi turned to the Pines family. "We have two things to offer you in thanks."

"You don't have to do that. I already got us a job transporting some of this place's Rokra ore to the Ulkxa, with what happened to your world they want to build more warships and will need it make shield generators." Gideon said.

"Please we insist." Skidari held up a diamond shaped ornament made of multiple colored strands. This is a symbol of unity and kindness for our people. You have shown these qualities to us more in these past five days then some of our own people in recent times.

Dipper took the small object. "Thank you. I collect things like this all the time, but this is going to be one I'll cherish."

"And for the second." Skidari turn to the others for an instant but then turned to the crew and all the Kelmogi held hands. Then the humans heard beautiful music pour into their heads. There were no words only an echoing melody that they would never forget.

Nine years later,

"Pacifica, are you okay?" Dipper asked snapping her out of her reverie.

"Yes, I was thinking about the Kelmogi and what came after." Pacifica answered.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Dipper said squeezing her hand smiling.

"Mr. Northwest!" said a woman Pacifica and Dipper's age in a simple green dress, a brown braid and thick glasses. "Mr. Northwest, Ms. Pacifica, I need to see you."

Preston recognized this woman. "Oh, this is Mary. She was my personal assistant before I retired."

"That is something I want to talk to you about Mr. Northwest. The company needs you back." Mary said.

"Now that's sweet that you miss your old boss." Dale said with Raul towering behind him.

Preston sighed. "Mary, you are the most caring assistant I had, probably because you're the only one I treated with any respect. But I have made up my mind. The board voted for Martin and with Pacifica back I want to focus my time and money helping her with her goals of protecting our planet."

"So how about we toast to this bright future we're going to build?" Dale asked. "Where's the Champaign?"

"Just sparkling cider, I'm afraid." Pacifica said. "Alcohol and I don't get along." After a few glasses Pacifica stepped away. "I just need to freshen up."

In the ladies' room Pacifica was washing her hands when Mary came in. "Pacifica we really need to talk. Northwest Industries is in trouble and if we don't do something Gravity Falls will become a ghost town."

"Couldn't you ask Marty? He is the CEO."

"Marty is the problem. I thought that with you coming back it would light a fire in your father to take the company back."

"What is Mr. Dale doing that's so bad? He can't be worse than most of my family was."

"I know the Northwests did bad things but at least their prosperity was linked to the town's. You probably don't remember me; my mother was one of the maids in the mansion. After it was sold, we moved and years later I ended up working for Martin Dale who made his fortune by making several successful apps. When he acquired Northwest Industries and assigned me to be your father's assistant, I thought I would just have to bear him to go back to the town I grew up in, the town I loved. But then I saw how he changed into a man who could barely focus on his work and just spent hours looking at your picture and just did as Mr. Dale said. You've been back in town a few weeks now, have you noticed how many stores have closed? Have you looked into the companies records since you got back?"

"We've been busy and had to travel a lot."

"Martin will take pride in the fact that the mud flap factory no longer pollutes the river but only because he outsourced the whole thing to an African country; everyone in the factory lost their jobs. He sold all properties Northwest Realty had to another company. There's even a rumor that Martin is going to fund one of the presidential candidates in exchange for turning the forests into nature preserves! This town has practiced safe and sustainable logging practices since its founding! It wouldn't do a lot to help the environment, not enough to justify the loss of all those jobs."

"Why would he do all this?"

"I don't know! He has an agenda, but I don't know what it is. Most of what he's done is losing money."

"Mary, I'll check with my parents, friends, and my husband to see if what you're saying is true but I'm sure it is. I see how much you care about this town and so do I. I spent fifteen years trying to get back to this town, my home, the place I want to raise my children and I'm not going to let a cockroach like Martin Dale take it away!" Pacifica couldn't help comparing Dale to another she met who had a hidden agenda. Someone who had hurt the man she loves.

Nine years ago,

"The lode of ore should be here any minute Gideon. Would you bring it in while I'm out?" Dipper asked.

"Sure, but why are you heading out.?"

"Taking care of those wounded Kelmogi has left us with only half our medical supplies so am going to pick some up."

"Aren't you going to take your gauntlet?"

"Bounty hunters aren't allowed here and I'm staying away from the shady parts of the colony."

"Are you sure you're not just trying to avoid Paz? You did almost kiss."

"No, we didn't! Even if I like her that way, which I am not saying I do, if we went out and it ends badly it would be hard since we live on the same ship. We're best just staying friends." Dipper walked away as the lift with the ore began to arrive.

As Gideon lowered the power loader he said. "Brother, I know you two are in love. You should go for it and be happy. I have to settle for loving Mabel from afar."

As Dipper left the docks, he didn't notice a black ship with four prongs that he hadn't seen in years was docked nearby or the yellow cloaked insect that began to follow him. After about two blocks distance away Crix made his move. "It has been a long time Pines." Dipper turned hearing Crix and the next thing he knew a brown fluid was in his eyes and he couldn't see, then he felt a shock and fell. Dipper felt one of Crix's droids carry him somewhere. "Don't bother calling for help, I got your communicator and this place is soundproof, you and I will not be disturbed." Crix said ending with his usual clicking.

"You're not getting Ixcia Crix!" Dipper yelled finding himself strapped to a chair. Then he felt Crix punch him in the gut.

"We shall see. Last time you tricked me because I knew nothing about your kind, so I have no idea how much pain you can tolerate." Crix chuckled.

"So, it's going to be torture?"

"I will do what I must. Now what is the access code to your ship?"

"Bite me!"

"If you insist." Crix bit into Dipper left shoulder drawing blood. Crix then spat. "You taste awful. Now let's try something else. Your former captain was a smuggler, where did he hide things on the ship?"

"So, it's not Ixcia you want. It's something Darnak hid on her? Well tough luck! He died just after he bought me, so he never had the chance to show me his hiding spots. We're finding them all the time, but they all have one thing in common."

"And what is that?"

"They were all empty."

Crix punched Dipper in the face. "The access codes! Now!"

Crix lowered the voltage of his electric prod. "No!" Dipper got another shock that he stayed awake for the pain this time.

"You owe Darnak nothing! He was supposed to deliver the item to me but then he turned around and tried to sell it to someone else! Just tell me where it is!"

"I don't know!" Dipper screamed his Crix shocked him again.

Half an hour later at the ship everyone was getting worried. "Shouldn't he have at least called by now?" Pacifica asked.

"This isn't like Dipper at all. The cargo is all loaded up and we're ready go. He should have been back with those supplies by now." Mabel said pacing.

Gideon then slammed his fist into his palm. "I say we go look for him!"

"I have his location. Dipper is in a warehouse in an industrial area." Ixcia said lowering the jet bike.

Mabel and Pacifica got on the bike a took off with Gideon following behind with his rocket pack. Outside the warehouse they saw several robots standing outside. "I recognize those! Crix's combat droids!" Gideon said.

"That crazy bug you guys told me about?" Pacifica asked. "Pacifica lowered her visor and looked inside. "He's got Dipper tied to a chair! Crix is hurting him!

"We got to get him out of there!" Mabel said pulling out her gun.

Back in the warehouse after almost an hour of trying to get Dipper to tell him what he wanted to know and Crix was losing his patience. "How can your ship's computer not know about any hidden compartments?!"

"As far as Ixcia figures Darnak gave her orders to delete any record of them so if she was boarded no one could find out he was smuggling by checking her files." Dipper said. "Look you beat, bit, shocked, and cut me! It doesn't change the fact that I don't know where that thing is or even what it is!" Dipper was covered in bruises, cuts, electrical burns, and a black eye.

"Like I would tell you! The only thing I will say is Darnak stole it for me and then I found out he found another buyer that I took care of!" Crix went to a shelf and picked up a beaker with a red liquid in it. "Your sight is coming back; do you know what this is?" Dipper shook his head. "This is a solvent they use to clean the mining equipment. This solvent has a quirk, it works slowly on organic substances. So, tell me your access code or you will feel great pain as you hand melts away."

"And when you get aboard, you'll tear Ixica apart bolt by bolt to find it and kill anyone who gets in your way?"

Crix laughed as he poured the liquid on Dippers right hand. Dipper screamed at the burning sensation. "I have a counter agent. Just give me the codes and we might just save your hand." Crix pointed to a beaker on a shelf with an orange liquid in it."

"I *ugh* know you *Ahhhh* don't *shhhhh* care if you hurrrrt people! I won't let yoooooou hurt my…my family." Then Dipper thought. _"I can really die here. I should have told Pacifica how I felt. At least I can keep my family safe."_

At that moment one of the combat droids was knocked through the door with a dagger in its eye. "Dipper!" Pacifica came in her dagger flying back into her hand. Outside Mabel and Gideon kept shooting Crix's droids. "What did you do to him?" Pacifica asked.

"What I had to!" Crix pulled out his knife in his right hand and prod in his left. "Let's see what you can do newcomer!" The pair rushed each other, at first it seemed like neither touched each other but then Crix's prod broke in two. Then his right mandible fell off and Crix started bleeding green blood. "My mandible! My mandible! You'll pay for this you witch!"

"Paz! The orange liquid over there! Hurry!" Dipper groaned.

"I've been holding back…" Pacifica said. "…because I don't want another death on my conscience, but you hurt someone dear to me. So, if you don't get out of my way, I'll show just how deadly a Felggur can be!" Pacifca said to Crix pointing her dagger at him.

"Felggur?!" Crix in shock turned to see Gideon and Mable had shot and destroyed the last of his combat droids. If Crix still had both mandibles he would be clicking like crazy out of fear. He grabbed a controller and a black flying droid swooped down and snatched him. "Another time! Not even a felggur will keep me from my prize!"

Pacifica wasted no time. "Mabel get that orange stuff!" Mabel did as she was told.

"Pour it on my hand!" Dipper said. The chemicals neutralized each other but Dippers hand was in bad shape, they could see some of the bones in it.

Mabel worked quickly with the bio sealer while Pacifica cut Dipper lose. "That was bad! I can't just treat him here and we're still low on supplies on Ixcia! He needs a doctor!" Mabel said.

"Then what are we waiting for? There has to be one in the colony!" Gideon said.

Dipper was carried out and taken to the local hospital. Hours later they talked to the male Kelmogi doctor while Dipper rested. "He should recover from most his injuries quickly however…" the doctor closed his eyes for a minute. "…his right hand is another story. There was damage to the nerves, and he won't have full range of motion without weeks of physical therapy and it is going to scar."

"Can we see him doctor?" Mabel asked.

"Yes, but it's best that Dipper stay overnight for observation."

They came in to see while the bruises and cuts were gone Dipper still had had a black eye, but the swelling had gone down and his right hand was in a plastic cast. "Hey guys, thanks for saving my butt back there." Dipper said. "However, I like to propose a new rule, from now on we don't go anywhere without our weapons unless local authorities are very strict with enforcing weapon bans."

"Agreed!" The others said.

"Just can't believe anyone would go this far for a ship!" Gideon growled.

"Crix isn't after Ixcia, he wants something Darnak may have hid on her." Dipper explained everything he learned from Crix.

"So, he's after us because he wants something that we don't know what it is, and it might not even be on Ixcia anymore?" Mabel asked frustrated.

"Yeah, and he is certain this item still is on Ixcia. We should look all over her just in case."

Pacifica moved next to Dipper. "At least there's some good news. I scared Crix so bad that the dockmaster said he got on his ship and left. He shouldn't be back here until we leave."

With all that happened Dipper decided he didn't want to miss out on this chance. "Pacifica you told Crix that I'm dear to you. You are dear to me too. Pacifica I…I love you!"

Silence hung in the air for a moment. "Dipper, I love you too! But my reflexes…how can we have a relationship?" The next thing Pacifica knew Dipper pulled her close and kissed her on the lips. It felt so good, and Pacifica almost wished it would never end.

But it had to. "So, I think that answers your question." Dipper said with a smile.

"Alright, let's do it. After you get out of here, we can try dating."

"I'm so happy for you two!" Mabel cheered, her smile lighting up the room.

"Way to go y'all." Gideon gave a thumbs up.

"Thanks, but we should let Dipper rest and get the ship ready to go as soon as Dipper gets out." Pacifica had hardly believed that something so awful could lead to something so joyous.

Nine years later,

Pacifica was waiting in the board room of Northwest Industries wearing her usual gear from space. "You wanted to talk to me about something Mrs. Pines?" Martin Dale asked as he came into the room with Raul.

Pacifica took off her visor and placed it on the table. "I had an idea last night. What if we converted the old mud flap factory into a plant for constructing components for spacecraft? That way you don't have to wait and pay for the construction of a new facility."

"While that does sounds like a good idea, the factory would pollute the local ecosystem and I don't think my engineers will want to move a town in the middle of nowhere!"

"Are you sure? It's a beautiful place and it shouldn't be that expensive to make the factory safe for the local environment just like you could have done three years ago. Mary showed me the costs and even today it's something we can afford."

"I guess I just wanted to give an opportunity for a struggling nation the chance to contribute." Dale gave a nervous laugh.

Pacifica decided to change the subject. "Does the name Silver Brook mean anything to you?"

"Can't say that it does."

"What about Smithville or Buck's Pass?"

"No, what this about?"

"It's just funny because your company owns land and businesses in each of them."

Dale just held up his hands. "I own a lot of things. It's good business to diversify."

"Still it's strange that all three of these small towns have one other thing in common, once you acquired these properties the local economies took a nosedive! Silver Brook had half its population move out! Smithville's crime rate shot way up due to all the unemployment when you outsourced everything! Buck's Pass is now abandoned!"

"Is there a point to all this?" Dale was getting annoyed.

"You're doing the same thing to my hometown! You hate small towns, don't you? Where did you grow up?"

"Seattle, so what? You grew up here right? Richest girl is this small town must have felt like the princess of your own little kingdom, right? But unlike you I earned my fortune!" Dale shouted.

"We're not talking about me. We are talking about your actions and how they ruined whole communities!" Pacifica yelled back.

"Those people would be better off in the city! Small towns are breeding grounds for stupid ignorant people that hold progress back! So, what if not all of them get back on their feet? It's their own fault for not being smart like me! So, what if I made choices that fit with my ideal of the future? So, what if I sold weapons to a rebel army so the new government would give me a tax break on a factory for those truck accessories for hicks that were made here!"

"And that's what I needed to hear. You really want our tech, don't you? Did you know what this little piece does?" Pacifica asked picking her visor up. "It can see in all kinds of spectrums and even through walls. It even has a recorder built-in."

"Blackmail huh? Raul grab it! We'll scrub the data and copy the tech." As Dale's bodyguard tried to take the visor, he placed his hand on Pacifica's shoulder. Her eyes became cloudy and she grabbed his wrist and twisted it while forcing the back of his hand to hit his boss' face making Dale's lip bleed.

"My wrist!" Raul yelled in pain.

Pacifica eyes went back to normal. "You thought I was just some helpless blonde rich girl? Out in space I was forced against my will to become an assassin! I was holding back just then, or you would be dead right now!"

"My lawyers are going to have a field day with you!" Dale yelled.

"You're going to need them!" Agent Trigger said coming into the room with Wendy, Mary, and two deputies.

"She assaulted and tried to blackmail me!"

Pacifica just smiled. "While you were trying to cover up a crime. And I never blackmailed you, since I never asked or demanded anything from you. You see Marty this visor doesn't just record, years ago we found a way to link it's feed to Ixcia."

"Which she's streaming to social media sites all over the country right now!" Wendy said holding up her smart phone showing the live feed.

Trigger handcuffed Martin. "I have friends at the FBI who have been working for years to find a connection between your company and illegal arms sales. But they never would have known it gone all the way up to you if Mrs. Pines hadn't volunteered for this little sting operation. Your little confession should get us a warrant to check your company records and expose your whole operation."

Pacifica put her visor back on. "And I wouldn't have done this if you hadn't assigned Mary to assist my father. Like me and Sheriff Frost she was born and raised in this town. That and the technology you covet were your downfall. Goodbye Martin."

"Right for the jugular. You really are an assassin." Martin Dale said with a chuckle as he was led away.

"So, what happens to the company now?" Wendy asked.

Pacifica turned the feed on her visor off. "With Dale gone the board will have to appoint a new CEO and with this hitting the news the stock will drop allowing my parents to buy them for cheap making my family the majority shareholders again. We are going to recommend you as CEO Mary."

"But this company was your birthright!" Mary said shocked.

"It was but running this company isn't my priority right now. I'm trying to get our people ready for the day the Imperium comes to this galaxy and I'm trying to start a family, I'll be too busy to run the day to day operations of the company. You helped my father do it for three years Mary; I was serious when I told Martin what I wanted to do with that old factory. It's the first step in getting this town's economy back. Will you help me help our people?"

"If the board does pick me then yes!"

"Good. Now if you excuse me, I want to spend some time with my husband." Pacifica left and met with Dipper at the restaurant called The Club. Both had changed into nice clothes. "Hey baby."

"You sure are happy. I take it your plan worked?" Dipper said.

"The only tech of ours Marty is ever going to see for a long time are the ones that will keep him in a prison cell." Pacifica looked around. "As nice as this place is it will never hold a candle to our first date."

Dipper smiled at the memory. "I was afraid of messing it up and being our last."

Nine years ago,

It was a week after they left the Kelmogi colony and Pacifica went down to the cargo bay. Okay Dipper what do you need…" Pacifica saw that Dipper had laid out the training mat as a picnic blanket with some food laid on it. There was also a tarp over some cargo containers painted to look like a park.

"Is it okay? I know you must have expected something fancier but since we won't be at our next port for a while I didn't want to wait. I also needed help from Mabel and Gideon to set this up with only one good hand, especially since I'm not a lefty." Dipper said sweating.

"It's very sweet. Thank you." Pacifica sat down and they began to eat until Dipper knocked over a glass.

"Sorry!" Dipper said embarrassed.

"It's okay let me help you." Pacifica clean up the mess and put a small morsel in Dipper's mouth. "See Dipper? No big deal."

"Mason. My first name is Mason. It wouldn't be proper for you to date me and not know my first name."

"Mason…I like it! It's a good strong name. I know I made fun of Mabel's name when we met but it fits so well with yours. I love you Mason." Pacifica scooted next to Dipper.

Dipper took a deep sniff of Pacifica's hair. "Still smells like flowers and champagne." He said looking at the flowers painted on the tarp. "Out of all the flowers in the universe none compare to the beauty of you, my golden flower."

"For the first time I don't care if we ever get home, as long as I'm with you I'm happy."

"We'll get back someday. I want to show everyone there how lucky I am to be with you." The two cuddled for a good while after that, content just to be with each other.


	10. The Punwidge Incident

Chapter 10

The Punwidge Incident

A couple of days after Martin Dale's arrest Erika Gleeful rode her bike to the Ixcia. Gideon and Mabel were waiting for her. "It's about time you guys gave me the tour." Erika said.

Gideon wrapped his arm around his sister. "Sorry it took so long Erika but Ixcia is the fastest way to travel and a lot people need to see us…"

"Yeah, your trying to save the world. I get it! It's cool big brother. Heck, maybe someday I'll help keep those Imps off our planet." Erika gave Gideon a light slap on the chest.

Mabel pointed to one of the walls. "Just bring your bike inside."

Erika leaned her bike against the wall and looked up looking at the jet bike hanging from the ceiling. "Someday soon. You drew all these things on the walls Mabel?"

"Yep! It was part of my self-appointed mission to keep this crew happy and positive until we got home!" Mabel said with a big smile.

"And all these crates and stuff are…"

"Materials and components that we knew couldn't be made easily on earth or just didn't exist here. Like Vyron crystals for jump drives." Gideon explained.

"Okay so what's next?"

"The heart of this ship. The engine, I fixed, replaced, and upgraded about every part of it." After they came up into the engine room Gideon pointed to a small green cylinder connected to the engine. "That is the only known quantum infuser in this galaxy."

Erika kneeled do to get a closer look. "Cool."

They came out to the common area. "Ixcia what are you waiting for? Come say hello to Gideon's little sister Erika."

Ixcia's avatar appeared. "Of course, it is a pleasure to meet you Erika."

"Nice to finally meet you too. How are you liking earth so far?" Erika asked.

"I see why everyone wanted to come back here. You have a beautiful planet and since it is my crews' home it is mine as well and I will defend it."

"Speaking of your crew where's the rest of it? Since you're here that means Dipper and Paz are in town."

"They're over at the construction site and will call us when things are ready." Mabel answered. "We're building the house just down the road of the Mystery Shack.

"I get why you guys want to build a house in this town, it means a lot to you all to make your home here at last. What I don't understand is why the four of you want to share the same house."

"Dipper and I have been together all our lives and the four of us have lived together for eleven years. We just can't imagine living apart."

The tour continued for a little bit until. "There's only one other place we want to show before we show you the bridge, our room." Gideon said.

They went to the hallway leading to the bedrooms and bridge. Since their wedding day the doors closest to the bridge were repainted with the names Pines and Gleeful both in simple white. "Ready to see our little love nest?" Mabel asked.

The Gleeful door opened, and Erika saw there were a few spare parts on the desk and drawings still on the walls. The bed was bigger than when Dipper and Mabel first came aboard and the same was true across the hall. On the bed were two homemade stuffed animals. One was obviously based on Mabel's pet pig Waddles but the other one was defiantly some kind of alien. It was lime green, round, had four legs, two short tails, a short elephant like nose, and a large tuft of white hair that looked like the hair style Gideon wore in all the pictures she seen of him growing up. "What is this thing?" Erika asked.

"He's a Punwidge."

"Wasn't that the nickname the Raiders gave you Gideon?"

"That's right. I made this little guy for Mabel after we landed on a planet full of them." Gideon said.

"And it was on that planet where I had fallen in love with your brother." Mabel smiled thinking back.

Erika didn't feel like hearing this story. "Maybe we should head to bridge? Dipper could call any minute, so we don't have time for a long story…"

"No way out of it!" Mabel said pulling Erika into a seated position on the bed. "It all started when we were hired to enter a literal space race." Now Mabel had Erika's attention.

Eight years ago,

Pacifica was at the helm, her enhanced reflexes helping Ixcia dodge the asteroids in this portion of the course. "He's pulling ahead again!" Pacifica was talking about the three time champ they were hired to beat in a bright red ship.

"We won't lose him Paz!" Dipper said at navigation.

"Gideon the we're losing power on the starboard thruster again." Mabel was sitting at the engineering station.

"Already on it!" Gideon was making repairs as needed in the engine room with Soostron.

"Thanks Gideon!" Gideon could practically hear Mabel smile.

"This is the last leg of the race; we need to make a turn at the marker and make a full orbit of the planet. This could be our last chance to pass the guy and win the race." Dipper said looking at the map.

"Here we go then." Pacifica flew the ship in matter like a drift turn during the orbit. Ixcia was closing in on their opponent.

"Almost there." Mabel said.

There were flashes coming from navigation. Dipper got a panicked look on his face. "Another ship coming in fast!"

The dark green ship made a turn like Ixcia's but slammed into the cargo ship which made it hit the champion's ship. "We're being pulled down to the surface! Gideon get main power back up!"

"No use, the relays just blew! We're losing systems one by one!" Gideon yelled strapping himself to an emergency harness.

"Hang on everyone! I'm going to try to level us out!" Pacifica said.

The planet they were crashing on was covered in large fields and mountains. They hit a peak tumbling down the side taking flight again for a short time before crashing into a large field on the belly of the ship scaring away local wildlife. Ixcia made a shallow trench until she came to a stop. "Is everyone okay?" Mabel asked.

Dipper answered first. "I'm good, Pacifica?"

Pacifica looked at Dipper with a small smile. "I'm not hurt, Gideon can you hear us?"

"I'm fine." Gideon said over the comm. "But just from a glance it's going to take us at least two weeks to fix the engines after that crash!"

The whole bridge crew looked defeated. Mabel got up and then asked. "Ixcia are you still on online?"

Ixcia's enlarged avatar appeared but had static on her. "Affirmative, systems oper…operating at 56%. Jump dr-drive, s-s-s-s-s-shields, and sub-light engines offline. We…we will be un-un-un-unable to leave the planet until repairs are complete."

"Let's see where we are." Dipper said pulling up the info at the navigation station. "Planet Farbo. Well the good news is it's inhabited, in fact we just passed over a city that's a short jet bike ride away. We can get any replacement parts we need there. Atmosphere is breathable and we're far from Imp territory for now at least."

Pacifica pulled other info after she sat at engineering. "Well here's the bad news. While we fulfilled our end of the contract by keeping the champ from winning the race with so many repairs and the cost of parts, we'll be lucky to break even on this job."

"Well let's look on the bright side guys! If we're here for two weeks, then there's plenty of time us to take in the local night life. You two have been wanting to go out again and this time we don't have to worry about the Imps coming so you can finish one without running back to the ship!" Mabel was pointing out the recent pattern that Dipper and Pacifica's had fallen into lately. If it wasn't centurions, then it was bounty hunters.

"Sounds like a good idea to me." Gideon said coming into the bridge.

"Thanks Gideon, what took you so long to get here?"

"I was trying to fix Ixcia's processors. How are you doing now Ixcia?"

"Systems operating at 72%" There was no static on Ixcia's avatar now.

"Great job Gideon!" Mabel patted Gideon on the back making him smile.

"Well it would be nice to have a date and finish a meal for once." Pacifica said.

Dipper wrapped his arms around Pacifica. "Alright, after we get the parts, we'll work on Ixcia during the day and head into town at night. We may have just got a working vacation."

They crew opened the cargo bay door saw dozens of small green animals outside with trunks and big tufts of white hair on their heads. "Oh, they look so cute!" Mabel said.

"What are they?" Dipper asked turning on the scantrix.

"These creatures are called Punwidges." Ixcia explained.

"Punwidge? The Raiders used that for my nickname." Gideon said.

"I can see why. They have hair just like you used to have." Pacifica pointed to one on the animals.

"You must be cautious around them." Ixcia said. "While not predatory they are easily frightened, and their mucus is a powerful defense."

Behind them a cable began to spark making loud noises. The closest punwidge took a deep inhale and pointed its trunk into the ship. "Get down!" Dipper yelled. Everyone ducked as a glob of blue snot flew over their heads and landed on the floor making a small explosion.

"Seriously?! These things shoot literal snot rockets!" Pacifica said.

Gideon then remembered what he heard about the animals. "Just like Grual said, attack their herd and things tend to explode."

Mabel just got up and began to lower the jet bike. "We just have to close the door when we leave do our best to not spook them." The group made sure that they were a good distance before they took off for the city the girls rode on the bike while the guys flew on their own. When they got there, they saw the city was surrounded by a tall and thick wall of metal. Mabel walked up to a large gate. "Hello, can anyone let us in please? We need to buy parts for our ship."

The gates opened and they were met by a plump man with large incisors and a metal peg leg. "You must be from that racer they flew over us and crashed. Welcome to Safe Haven City. I'm Binwerk and I must admit I didn't expect you guys to get here in one piece." Binwerk waved them in.

"Because of the crash?" Dipper asked.

"If that didn't get you the punwidges would have. I'm speaking from experience." Binwerk pointed to his peg leg. "So, you want parts to fix up you ship. Well we got plenty of shops that should have what you need but I highly recommend you focus your work on your shields first, cold and flu season for those critters starts in a week and well that's why we have the wall."

"Yeah, thanks for the warning." Gideon said.

"None of you guys are bounty hunters, right? Because if so, we'd have to throw you out of town. This place was founded as somewhere folks could get away from trouble."

Pacifica answered. "Trust us, we're glad to hear that."

"What's the night life like here Binwerk?" Mabel asked.

"We got a few clubs, some even have grintar nights."

"And grintar is?" Gideon asked.

"You go up on stage pick a song and sing along. What never heard of it before?"

"That's karaoke! I haven't done it in years!" Mabel was excited.

"And you'll get to do it after we get those parts. I'll take you myself." Gideon said.

"Thank you, Gideon! Now let's get those parts!"

As Mabel ran ahead of the group Pacifica decided to talk their stay on this planet. "You've been on a roll with Mabel lately."

"What do you mean?" Gideon slowed his walking.

"Come on man." Dipper said joining in. "Being ready to work on the engines during the race, fixing Ixcia's processor, offering to take her to karaoke. You've been showing her that you skilled, caring, and fun. I'm sure if you asked her out while we're here she'd say yes."

"What?!" Gideon came to a complete halt.

"Don't be coy Gideon. Mabel might be the only one who doesn't know you still have feelings for her, hell she probably knows and is just waiting for you to make a move. These two weeks are the perfect chance and you practically already asked her out." Pacifica said.

"No, it's not like that!" Gideon stopped. "If I try to ask her out, she'll think I haven't changed at all!"

"Hey what's the holdup guys?" Mabel asked.

"We'll talk later." Dipper said. They got the parts and rented a hover truck to carry everything back to Ixcia and everyone got right to work. Dipper and Gideon were in the engine room while Mabel and Pacifica repaired the cargo bay. Soostron tried to finish repairing Ixcia's processors. "Gideon, you've been with us on Ixcia for six years and are now eighteen years old. I think you have been waiting long enough."

Gideon twisted in a component and said. "It's not like I haven't thought about it before. I would love to go out with her again, but would she want to?"

"Not if doesn't know it's an option. I think it's time you were more open with her little bro."

Gideon thought for a moment. "I think I might know something to break the ice."

That night the humans were in a local club. Next to the dance floor the tables were in floating saucers. Mabel, Dipper, and Pacifica were one the dance floor while Gideon sat nearby double checking his gift for Mabel. "Come on Dipper get into the music!" Mabel said. Dipper felt a little awkward until he looked into Pacifica's eyes. What no one noticed was Mabel was being watched by someone in a dark corner. "That's right Bro! Shake it! Woooooo!" The man was tall and handsome with long white hair, red skin, pointed ears, and yellow cat like eyes. He wore black pants and a long black jacket but no shirt showing of his six pack.

As he made his way to the dance floor, he heard people talk about recent happenings. "There was another break in. A lot of valuables were stolen so it had to be a big crew, but no one has even seen them."

"That's nothing, there was a fourth coma last night. What is happening to the girls in this city?"

The man walked up to Mabel and held out his three fingered hand. "Hey, name's Horvak. Care to dance?"

"Sure! My name's Mabel." Mabel said taking Horvak's hand. She was too busy having fun to suspect anything. No one saw a small yellow light go from Mabel's hand into a mouth in Horvak's hand that had three small fangs.

Horvak danced with Mabel thinking. _"I haven't met anyone this positive in a long time. I'll get a lot out of her."_ Horvak then asked. "You must be new here."

"Yeah we're just here for two weeks while we fix our ship."

Horvak grinned. _"She has a ship too. Good, a few more scores and then it's time to leave this rock before the Imperium comes."_

At the table Gideon felt like he was punched in the face. "Oh great. As soon as I try to ask Mabel out some alien pretty boy swoops in and puck her away!" Gideon whispered. "No! Don't get jealous. She's just having fun, and this can only last two weeks."

Eight years later,

"I thought this how you feel in love with my brother." Erika said.

Mabel held up her hands. "I'm getting there. Sometimes you got to fall for the wrong guy before finding the right one."

"And you couldn't get much more wrong than Horvak." Gideon said. "I should have gone with my gut about him right away, but I didn't want to upset you Mabel. I thought you would think I was just jealous."

Eight years ago,

A few days later while working Pacifica found the box with Gideon's gift still unopened. She went to the bridge to talk to him. "Gideon why haven't you gave Mabel her present? Dipper told me all about it."

"I was going to until Horvak showed up." Gideon said. "And between all the work here and her going out with him every night I haven't really had a chance to give it to her."

"I wouldn't worry about him. We're not sticking around. I don't see what she finds so attractive about him. He's no Mason."

"I think your relationship is making you a little biased."

"It has been a wonderful year." Pacifica looked like she was in a dream. "We're at second base now, and we're so happy that we want both of you to find that kind of happiness too."

"Do you really think Mabel could feel that way about me now?"

"You are a really good guy Gideon. Much better than you were before, you're loyal, kind, you decided to let Mabel come to you when before you just wanted her like an object. I think she just needs a reminder that the you of now is a guy worth giving a chance."

In the galley Dipper and Mabel worked on fixing some of the appliances. "Okay, let's try this now." Dipper made a few connections on a food processor only for it to turn on and spray him with a purple paste. Mabel reached for a towel to clean him off. "What no laugh?"

"Oh, yeah I guess you do look a little silly." Mabel said glumly.

"Mabel is something wrong?"

"No, maybe. Lately I just can't seem to get happy without Horvak around. Nothing seems to cheer me up, not familiar pictures, not funny stuff like this, nothing and I don't know why."

Dipper wiped the paste off. "Everyone gets a little gloomy now and then. That Karaoke night is coming up in a few days, that should cheer you up." Dipper hoped for Gideon's sake that Mabel wasn't falling for Horvak.

"That would be nice."

That night the gang went to a track where small creatures called Donwobs that were like a furry six-legged gecko. "Go! Go! Go!" Pacifica cheered as the animal she picked crossed the finish line.

Dipper pulled Pacifica close and kissed her. "How'd you know 26 would win?"

"Just a guess, baby."

Horvak and Mabel were talking in a corner. "How much longer till your ship is ready sweet thing?" Horvak asked.

Mabel smiled. "The repairs will be done in in another five days." She then looked sad. "Five more days then we may never see each other again. Horvak I can't seem to be happy without you."

"Well I was thinking it was about time I moved on from here. I could go with you, be part of the crew."

Gideon overheard this. "You sure you want to do that? The Imperium is after us."

"Gideon!" Mabel said.

Horvak gave a smile. "He's just concerned. Truth is the Imperium is after me too."

"What for?" Gideon asked.

"I'm a Vodari, a race that's a part of the Imperium but I have problems with their policies, so I left. The Imps don't take kindly to that." Hovak then had an idea. "Hey how about a friendly little wager? Mabel here tells me you guys vote on things for your ship so let's each pick a donwob and race. If I win then you give your vote for me joining you guys."

"Fine! I pick 14."

"Guys you don't have to do this!" Mabel said.

"I'll pick number 1 of course. Don't worry Mabel it's for the best." Horvak said placing his hand on Mabel's shoulder.

The pair ignored Mabel and the race began number one had red fur while 14 had green. The pair raced on a table and at first 14 was winning but just before they crossed finish line Gideon saw a black blur touch his donwob and then it tripped. 1 ran past it and won the race. "What? How did that happen?"

"Bad luck pal but I'm glad I got your vote."

Mabel was angry. "What was that all about Gideon? I thought you changed! Are you so jealous that you can't stand the thought that I could have another friend?"

Gideon looked heart broken. "No, it's not like that! Mabel…"

"I don't want to hear it!" Mabel stormed off crying. The rest of her family was stunned in silence.

Four days later while Gideon worked on the engine Dipper, Mabel, and Pacifica were putting the finishing touches on the navigation systems on the bridge. "There, now we can tell where we're going again." Dipper said.

Mabel however was still in a bad mood. "Going nowhere you mean."

"Excuse me?" Pacifica asked.

"What is the point of all this? We're never going to find a way home!" Mabel broke into tears.

Dipper was confused. This was not like his sister at all. "Mabel what are you saying? In all the years we've been out here you have always been the one who has kept us believing that we'll get back to earth!"

"I'm sick of being the one making everyone happy all the time! Just leave me alone!" Mabel ran out and got on the jet bike and went to the city.

"Dipper shouldn't we go after her?" Pacifica asked.

"I'm not sure. She might she having a hard time because we're not spending as much time together since you and I started dating or it might be something else." Dipper said.

"No one was happier for us than her! I think she was hoping we would get together. No, it's something else."

"This change started after she met Horvak," Dipper turned on the comm. "Gideon we need to talk, meet us in the common area please."

"Just give me a minute and I'll be there." Gideon said. A few minutes later Gideon joined his friends. "What is it?"

"Gideon we're just as concerned about Mabel and Horvak. I'm sure you noticed how she been changing these past couple of weeks."

"Yeah, she been depressed when that guy is not around. It's like the thing that makes Mabel well Mabel has been fading away."

"Ixcia what do you know about the voldari? Is there anything that might explain this?" Pacifica asked.

Ixcia displayed the information. "Vodari are not normally considered that unusual. They are not telepathic."

Dipper had a thought. "Wait normally? You mean there's something about some Voldari that make them unusual?"

"There is an entry on their culture that matches the change in Mabel's attitude, but it is based on folklore."

Gideon spoke up. "Ixcia this whole crew has seen a lot of weird things before we came to space. Most from just one town! If that legend could be the cause, then we need to see it!"

Ixcia shown an image of a parchment with a Voldari with a closeup on the hand that had a mouth with three fangs. "Legends say that there is a subspecies of voldari called the Voldroki. They are said to be able to use the orifices in their palms to feed on the joy of others, giving them the ability to move faster than the eye can see. Those that are drained are said to be vulnerable to their suggestion. If this legend is true, then only one in ten million voldari would be born voldroki."

"After years away from Gravity Falls, we run into an anomaly." Dipper said. "That's what my great uncle Ford called things like this."

"If Horvak is a voldroki then it is little surprise that he is a fugitive from the Imperium. While you call him an anomaly the Imperium call beings like him aberrations and it has been a fifteen-hundred-year doctrine to destroy aberrations as they are believed to be against the order of the universe."

"And I thought the Imps couldn't be anymore messed up."

What will happen to Mabel if we don't get her away from Horvak?" Gideon asked.

"She will be so consumed with despair that she will fall into what the legends call an endless sleep that is most likely a coma. Legends say the only way to reverse this is to catch the voldroki, forcing him to release the stolen joy."

"Then we got to hurry! And save her from this emotional vampire!" With Dipper carrying Pacifica the trio got back to Safe Haven City. "Binwerk! Have you seen Mabel?"

"She did come by earlier. What you finished early?" Binwerk said.

"We think that Horvak has been feeding off of Mabel!"

"Have there been any comas or things happening that could be explained by super speed?" Dipper asked.

Binwerk thought for a moment. "There have been four unexplained comas in the past four months, all girls, and there have been thefts where no one has seen the culprit. I didn't think about it before, but it all did start shortly after that Horvak fella came to this planet."

"That's all we need to hear!" Gideon said before turning on his comm. "Mabel hasn't been answering, Ixcia track her location."

Binwerk called to the group as they left. "If you can prove that Horvak did this then he's bought himself an express ticket to a cryogenic prison!"

Horvak was zipping back and forth loading a hover truck with all his ill-gotten gains. "They've been trying to reach you huh?"

"Yeah." Mabel said. "Do we really need these things?"

"They're worth a lot of money. There that the last of it! Get in."

"What about the vote you wanted? Am sure my family will…"

"They don't understand that I'm the one that keeps you happy. We'll send for them when we find a better hiding spot." Horvak lied.

"Right…" Mabel said getting in the truck. They left just as the others arrived.

"Where are they going?" Gideon asked.

"They must be going back to our ship! Horvak must think that with his speed he can finish fixing Ixcia and leave." Dipper said turning on his communicator. "Ixcia, code triangle, triangle, triangle! Mabel and Horvak are heading your way! Do not let them leave this planet!"

"Understood." Ixcia said.

"At least they left the jet bike." Pacifica said as she and Dipper got on and Gideon followed with his rocket pack as they went back to Ixcia.

A few minutes later Mabel and Horvak arrived at the landing site which was still surrounded by punwidges. Horvak drove the truck right into the cargo bay. "Go ahead and tell her to get us out of here."

"Ixcia prepare to leave the planet." Mabel said.

"I'm sorry Mabel. I'm afraid I cannot let you do that." Ixcia said.

"It's never good when a computer says that." Mabel said dejectedly.

"It is this time Mabel!" Dipper said as the rest of the crew landed. "Horvak is literally sucking the happiness out of you! You've been caught Horvak now give back what you stole!"

"So, you learned the legends, except you got to actually touch me to catch me!" Horvak said. He opened the mouths in his hands and a golden light leapt from Mabel and into him. Mabel collapsed barely awake. "The joy from someone as positive as Mabel here for me is like switching from regular to premium!" Horvak ran toward the group looking like a black blur punching Dipper in the gut. "It's best I take all of you down. Then no one can stop me from hotwiring this ship and moving on!"

"We can't let you keep using my sister!" Dipper tried to punch back but Horvak easily dodged.

Horvak then kicked Dipper in the back and took his gauntlet throwing it into the ship. "She's not going last much longer! Most of my batteries last at least a month but with this much of a boost I guess that's the trade off."

"How can you just use people like that and throw them away?!" Pacifica said trying pin Horvak down.

"You'll understand soon enough. Mabel told me all about you. Someday it is just going to be one of you and you'll do whatever it takes to survive just like me! These valuables I stole will sure make I can do that comfortably." Horvak said taking one of Pacifica's daggers, her eyes became glazed swinging her remaining dagger, but she struck air. "Your reflexes are fast but I'm faster!" Horvak threw Pacifica into Dipper. He then turned to Gideon. "Now all that's left is you, big guy."

"I don't care how fast you are! You have brought misery upon the woman I love and you will pay a penance for your transgression!" Gideon yelled.

Horvak just laughed. "Big words from a guy who needs a gun…" Horvak took Gideon's hexablaster. "…and bombs…" Using the dagger that he took cut off Gideon pack and bombs while exposing Gideon's bare chest. "…to get anything done! Face it, I took all your weapons and I'm too fast for you to catch!" Hovak zoomed around to finish the fight.

Gideon looked around for anything he could use but all there was were punwidges. But he then remembered what he had been through with the Raiders.

"_You can't always count on having the proper parts to fix things." _Grual told him once when they were working on the engine. _"That's when you got to get creative and improvise a new plan."_

Draga and Gideon were on a ridge ready to ambush an Imperium transport. Drag shot one of the transports thrusters grounding it. _"It's better to stop it altogether than chase after it."_

Under heavy fire Holar threw a grenade behind them. _"Explosives don't just destroy; they make things like a handy foxhole!"_ The pair jumped in.

During target practice Gideon was having a hard time hitting a fast-moving target drone. Chugar gave him some advice. _"Don't aim where it is, look where it's going and take the shot."_

Gideon grabbed the nearest punwidge and held out its trunk. Mabel looked up. "Gideon?" She never saw him like this before, she knew he was strong, but she never really looked at his chest, his abs, his biceps. He never looked so handsome before.

Gideon took aim and spanked the punwidge causing it to shoot out its explosive mucus right the path of Horvak. The explosion made a deep crater the voldroki fell into at full speed. "ARGH!"

The former member of the onyx brotherhood wasted no time leaping into the crater right on top of Horvak. "Got you! Aren't potholes the worst?" Horvak's hands opened and a large amount of golden light poured out. A big portion went straight to Mabel while the rest flew into the sky, some going to the nearby city the rest flying off into space.

"Gideon, you did it!" Dipper said pulling Pacifica up.

"Dipper get some rope! We need to tie him up!" Pacifica said.

"Right!" Dipper ran to the ship.

"Gideon…" Mabel couldn't keep her eyes open any longer. When she opened them again Mabel was in her bed and Gideon was sitting at her desk. When she saw him the memory of what happened rushed into her along with all the acts of kindness Gideon did over the years. She could feel it in heart, she was in love with Gideon of all people! "Gideon? What happened?"

"Dipper and Paz have taken Horvak back to Safe Haven City. Ixcia recorded everything he said, he'll be in the deep freeze for a long, long time." Gideon said. "I brought you here to recover."

"Poor Horvak, the Imps made it so he could only be a bad guy. Maybe when he gets out things will have changed; he can be a better guy."

"Always hoping for the best, that's one of the things I love about you."

"You never stopped, did you? Loving me."

Gideon was flustered. "Well…yes I just decided that since you said I had to be a friend first I never really acted on my feelings."

"That was years ago. Gideon when I saw you fighting to save me, I saw a strong, brave and smart man with a good heart. Nothing like the power-hungry creep you used to be, I think I've fallen in love with you too! It just took me this long to realize that you are…"

"Someone worthy of loving." Gideon said remembering the words Dipper said to him years ago.

"Oh, yes and I think the first step is to see if this relationship is something we should pursue for you to take me on a date. You did promise to take me to karaoke."

"Right, oh I forgot!" Gideon picked up a box. "I wanted to give you this since we got here, now you have one you can hug that won't blow anything up. I made it myself, I hope it's as good as your work."

Mabel opened the box and pulled out a punwidge plushy. "Oh, he's so cute! Look Waddles you got a little friend! Thank you Gideon I love it!" Mabel put down the plushy and gave Gideon a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Oh, my. Heavens to Betsy. I'm dreaming?" Gideon asked.

The door opened. "No, you're not." Dipper said. "And since my sister is clinging to you like a magnet, I can assume you two are now an item?"

"It feels that way!" Mabel cheered.

"Then you two should go out tonight." Pacifica said. "The two us will finish repairs, besides we're looking forward to a quite evening in after all that."

"Thanks!"

A little over an hour later the new couple were having their first date singing alien karaoke. "I got a Grez and a shotgun. And I'm bringing'em home to you!" Gideon finished sing an alien country song and while most didn't care for the song Mabel applauded. "Did you really like it? I wasn't sure if you liked country music." Gideon asked coming back to their table.

"I don't but you sing it so well." Mabel said. "Piker and Holar sang that all the time?"

"Mostly when they were drunk." Gideon sighed. "I still finding it hard to believe that we really are on a date after all this time. I'm scared that I'm going to mess it up again."

"Eight years, we both changed a lot. Gideon, I don't know if this will become something more, but I hope this is the beginning of something wonderful for the both of us."

"I'd like that." Gideon and Mabel then kissed deeply.

Eight years later,

"We married the very next year." Mabel said finishing the story.

"And each year we just fall deeper and deeper in love. Right Dumpling?" Gideon gave Mabel a kiss.

"Right my big strong punwidge."

"Mabel, Gideon everything is ready over here." Dipper said over the comm.

"We're coming bro-bro." Mabel thought for a minute looking at Erika. "But we're going to take a small detour."

"Detour?" Erika asked.

"I think I know what your plan is my sweet." Gideon said. Less than a minute later the three Gleefuls were on the bridge and someone was waiting for them. "Agent Trigger it's time. You don't mind my sister joining us."

"It's just a short flight to your new property so it's no problem." Trigger said.

Mabel sat at the helm while Gideon went to the engineering station. "You both should sit down." Mabel said giving Erika a wink. Ixcia lifted off and began flying.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Trigger asked as Ixcia kept climbing.

"Just giving my sis a treat." Gideon said as Ixcia flew out of the atmosphere.

Erika stared out of the dome in awe at the earth. "Woah this is the most amazing thing I ever seen!"

"We felt the same you when we finally got back." Mabel said. "I actually cried when I first saw home again after fifteen years."

Gideon got up and took Mabel's hand. "Mabel my angel Dipper and Paz are waiting for us."

"Do we got to go back so soon?" Erika asked.

"Mom and Dad will worry if your gone too long. Besides if things go as planned then in a few years this will become common place for you." Ixcia flew down back to Gravity falls to a clearing where a concreate slab the length of Ixcia was set for her to land not far from a house the was being built.

"There it is that is going to be our house." Mabel said.

The cargo bay door opened, and Dipper and Pacifica were right there. "So, you like your landing pad Ixcia?" Dipper asked.

"It is functional, clearly marked for guest to keep clear in case landing. Yes, this is satisfactory." Ixcia said.

Erika got her bike. "How long until your house is built?"

"Wendy's brothers are really good; they already got the foundation done. If everything goes smoothly, we can move in before the year is over." Pacifica said.

Mabel looked at the frame of the house being built. "Just think Giddy, soon this will be home for all of us."

Gideon wrapped his arm around his wife. "As long as I'm with you anywhere can be home."


	11. For Better or Worse

Chapter 11

For Better or Worse

(authors note, parts of this chapter have a major spoiler to the prequel story Gravity Galaxy Dragonefire. While not required it will make parts of the chapter make more sense so check it out.)

The Ixcia crew with their friends and family at the Mystery Shacks parlor. The summer was half over, and they were having a small party to touch base with everyone. "…and we were kicked out of El Dorado, never to set foot there again." Ford was finishing a story.

"The point is toucans are jerks, so you should punch everyone you meet." Stan said.

There were a few laughs. "I missed you Grunkle Stan." Mabel said.

"Hey guys." It was Robbie. "I got good news. I got most of the registrations and paperwork you needed done. I got your ID's, insurance policies, voter registration, and the deed to your house right here. After looking over the education Ixcia gave you guys lots of universities want to give you guys honorary degrees too."

"Thanks Robbie, you've been instrumental helping us get our lives here back on track." Dipper could hardly believe he just said that.

"Hey, with what you guys are paying me from your consulting fees I've finally paid off mine and Tambry's student loans."

"You said you got most of their paperwork done. What's left?" Wendy asked.

"Well their wills and other documents just need a judge to see whatever equivalent of a marriage certificate you guys have, but it wasn't among those digital documents you sent me." Robbie said.

"Wait you need a certificate to be married?" Mabel looked worried.

"It's just for legal reasons."

Gideon looked like he was about to fall over. "That might be a problem…"

"The ship's captain who performed the ceremony didn't really care about us signing anything." Pacifica explained.

"Your saying without that…" Dipper looked pale.

"You guys aren't legally married in this country." Robbie said.

"How could you not have planned for this boy?" Bud asked Gideon.

"Given the circumstances we had to rush." Was Gideon's reply.

"Please don't tell me you had some five-minute space Vegas wedding!" Priscilla said.

"Now let's not panic everyone." Sarah said trying to calm everyone. "They didn't know so it's not like they were living in sin, right?"

Dipper tried to explain. "The captain did have the authority. We just got married right there because there was an almost certain chance we were going to die. Maybe it's best if we start from the beginning."

"Oh, I've been hoping to hear this story!" Candy said.

"Space wedding!" Grenda shouted.

Dipper continued. "It was seven years ago…" Dipper paused looking at Pacifica. Had they been together that long? "…like I was saying it started when while trying to get out of imp space again we picked up a distress call."

Seven years ago,

Ixcia was flying through the wreckage of a battle. "Any sign of escape pods?" Dipper asked from the helm.

"Got them." Mabel said from navigation. "Twelve degrees to port, A total of four pods."

"Power to the cloak is holding up." Gideon was manning engineering. "Let's just hope the Imps don't come back."

"If they do, I'm ready for them." Pacifica said from tactical.

"I see them. Ixcia open the cargo bay." Dipper flew so the green cube shaped pods went inside. "Right, let's check on them."

The crew went down and found two dozen small humanoid sheep like people climbing out of the pods. They wore brown uniforms, one of them with more markings on his uniforms, an officer spoke to them. "We will not surrender to you Imperium soldiers!"

"We're not with them!" Mabel said. "We're a cargo ship. We picked up your distress call and rescued you."

The aliens looked confused. "We never expected to be saved by noncitizens. Thank you, we are the proud officers of the Orewellis Space Navy."

Dipper spoke next. "Welcome aboard the Ixcia. I'm Dipper, this Pacifica, you've met my sister Mabel, and Gideon. If you give us the coordinates, we can take you home."

The Orewellians looked at each other and then to their commander. "I suppose it is alright."

"Good." Gideon said. "Now how about I take your injured to our sickbay?"

"We'll take care of our own. In fact, we prefer to stay here for this trip. Are you really enemies of the Imperium?"

"Okay." Pacifica answered confused. "We're wanted for crimes we didn't commit, well one of them for sure we didn't do."

The Orewellian commander gave the coordinates and the crew was about to head back up when Mabel stopped. "If it's okay can I touch one of your coats?" There was a nod yes. Mabel touched the top of his head. "So soft and fluffy."

Later in the common area the crew decided to relax Dipper and Pacifica were cuddling one couch while Gideon and Mabel the doing same on the other. Amid the butterfly kisses Gideon realized something. "It was the first time."

"What?" Mabel asked.

"I think that was the first time Dipper introduced Paz before you."

Dipper and Pacifica stopped making out. "I think you are right." Pacifica said. "Mason, I'm flattered."

Dipper was shocked at what was said. "I didn't even think about it. Paz was the first person to come to mind. Mabel I…"

Mabel blew a raspberry. "I'm not upset Dipper, I'm happy that you love Pacifica that much. This was bound to happen; you've been dating for two years. In the year Giddy and me have been going out he's become the first person I think of when I wake up and the last when I go to sleep."

Gideon smiled. "And you for me dumpling."

"Hey, I have an idea, after we drop off these guys how about we all go on a double date? We never did that before."

"That's a great idea!"

"Are you sure?" Dipper asked. "We're low on funds and we don't have any clients right now."

Pacifica squeezed her boyfriend's hand. "We have enough in savings for something cheap, it's the company that I want."

"Come on Dipper! Double date! Double date!" Mabel said. the other two began to chant along.

"Okay, okay! I know when I'm out voted." Dipper said with a laugh.

Four days later Ixcia arrived at an earth like planet with three small moons. "It looks nice." Mabel said. "Dipper did our passengers ever tell you about a place we could eat?"

"There's a café a short walk from the spaceport. But it wasn't easy to get them to talk to me. Those guys are so suspicious of us."

Gideon groaned. "Tell me about it. They only come up to use the lavatory and then it's always in groups of at least four."

"It's like they're not just scared of us but that they don't trust themselves to be out of the others sight." Pacifica noted.

"We are receiving a transmission from the planet." Ixcia reported.

Ixcia displayed a female Orewellian wearing a blue vest. "Unidentified vessel, this is orbital control, you have twenty-four of our people aboard! Explain yourselves!"

"We rescued them from an Imperium attack. We just want to bring them home and refuel." Dipper explained.

The fluffy alien thought for a moment. "I need to submit this information to the Shepherds' Council, standby."

They were put on hold. "High strung little fluff balls, aren't they?" Gideon said.

"Ixcia what info do we on these Orewellians?" Dipper asked.

Ixcia explained. "They are an isolationist state bordering on xenophobic that have let very few on their planet. Not much is known about their culture except that their leading body is the Shepherds' Council and every decision is brought to them for approval."

"I guess that explains somethings."

The orbital controller came back on the comm. "You have been granted permission to land. If you leave your ship you must leave all weapons and scanning equipment onboard. Scans show your ship is equipped with an artificial intelligence and a robot; you are to shut them off until you leave. Not following these regulations will result in harsh penalties."

"Ixcia will you and Soostron be okay if you're shut off?" Mabel asked.

"As long as our hard drives are intact, we will be fine. It will be as if no time has passed for us." Was Ixcia's answer.

"We'll only be down there for ninety minutes at most." Dipper said.

They landed in a city where all the buildings looked like grey interconnected cubes and streetlamps with cameras were everywhere. The Orewellians left the ship and their escape pods were unloaded as soon the door was opened. "Not even a thank you." Pacifica complained.

Mabel just blew the whole thing off. "Forget about them, we should all focus on our double date. I'm also hoping we can find a barber shop; I want to ask for some of these sheeple's hair to knit Giddy and me matching sweaters."

"I'm sure I'll love them my queen." Gideon said.

The group arrived at the café. "We're lucky that this place takes quan since these people don't trade." Dipper said as he and Pacifica sat at one said of the table while Gideon and Mabel sat on the other. "It's not very high and the chairs are kind of small, feels like I'm trying to sit at the kiddie table."

Pacifica tapped her finger on the table. "It's built for them. Let's just hope the food is good."

Thirty minutes later the four had left their food half-finished but they were talking and laughing while ignoring the stares of the locals. "And that's how we helped Soos met his girlfriend Melody." Mabel had just finished her story.

"Always the romantic. You knew just what do like now with this double date." Gideon said.

Dipper agreed. "Yeah this is was a good idea, thanks Mabel."

"It's nice spending time like this, talking about romantic things with friends and my boyfriend." Pacifica said looking into Dipper's eyes. "Makes me want to do something romantic myself."

"Me too." Dipper said with a smile as he and Pacifica kissed.

"That gets me in the kissing mood too." Mabel said.

"Of course." Gideon and Mabel began to kiss too. Both couples kissed long and passionately, playing with each other's tongues.

None of them noticed the local's shocked faces, mothers covered the eyes of their children. Then all the Orewillians made a loud continuous baaing sound while alarms and red flashing lights came from nearby streetlamps. When the Ixcia crew broke out of their kisses they were surrounded by police in yellow uniforms pointing guns at them. "You are under arrest!" one of them said.

"For what charge?" Dipper asked.

The sheep like aliens had a disgusted looks on their faces as the officer in charge said. "Public Display of Affection!"

Seven years later,

"Wait you guys were arrested for PDAs?" Erika asked. "That sucks!"

"Erika and I don't agree on much, but I know a dumb law when I hear one." Wendy said.

"Outlawing kissing? That's crazy!" Grenda yelled.

"How can they date if no one can kiss?" Candy asked.

"They couldn't even hug!" Mabel said. "Just holding hands would have given you a verbal waring!"

"They lived in a highly regulated surveillance state." Dipper explained. "Just about every facet of life was controlled. We were told that the state arranged marriages based on genetic factors."

"That is whack dudes!" Soos said.

"If you were all arrested then is this one of the times you went to prison isn't it?" Ford asked.

"Yes, while Dipper and Mabel were arrested once before we joined them, and Gideon was sent to jail as a kid once this was my first time." Pacifica said crossing her arms and doing her breathing exercise.

"The old me would have been mortified to hear you went to prison but hearing what idiotic crime you were charged with makes me want to sue them for damages!" Preston yelled.

Robbie remembered something. "Mabel you said you had bad luck with lawyers like me and you tended to knock them out. I take it you didn't have a competent defense."

"If it were only that!" Mabel said. "Robbie you are by far the best lawyer we ever had. The first one I punched him over a misunderstanding, but this guy deserved it!"

Seven years ago,

They were all in a grey room with a camera on them, with their trial to begin in less than twenty minutes. A man in a maroon suit came in. "I was assigned as your legal advisor." He said.

"Good, there's not much time. We were not aware that what we were doing is a crime on this planet!" Dipper explained.

"You weren't aware of the law?"

"We weren't on this planet for an hour before we were arrested!" Mabel said in a panic.

Gideon joined in. "The only reason we came to this planet was to bring members of your military home after we rescued them!"

"If you explain things to the judge then he can dismiss the case and we'll leave and never come back! Please we just want to find our way home!" Pacifica pleaded.

"I understand. But you must understand that crime here is so rare the shepherd's council judge every trial themselves and the whole planet is going to see." Their lawyer said.

The Ixcia crew were brought to a chamber with seven older Orewellians that wore red robes and held staffs that looked like a shepherd's crooks. They all sat at a semicircular table as more camera were trained on them. "Bring the accused forward." One of them ordered before the humans sat down. "What is the violation?"

"Civic conduct ordinance 565." An officer said.

"Open mouths?" a female member of the council asked.

"And tongues." The officer said with disgust. The female councilor almost fainted.

"I see we have video evidence of the crime but hopefully we don't have to subject more of the public to this debauchery. What do the accused plead?" a male councilor asked.

"They don't contest the charges." The advisor said.

"What?! No, we don't! I thought you said you understood!" Mabel grabbed her lawyer who was as tall as she was when she was twelve and lifted him up.

"What I said was I understand what you wanted me to do but my duty as your legal advisor is to get you to see the wisdom of the state and concede the verdict." The little man said.

The humans were not happy. "Can we represent ourselves?" Gideon asked.

"Yes." One of the councilors said.

Mabel looked her lawyer in the eye. "You're fired!"

Mabel tossed him into the wall knocking a tapestry off. The bar holding it up hit him in the head. "Yes sir, yes sir. Three bags full" their former legal advisor said before blacking out.

"Make your argument," said one of the shepherds. "But you are on very thin ice!"

Dipper stood up. "We came here to help some of your people but most of you barely spoke to us. When we arrived, we were told to deactivate our ship's computer and leave our equipment behind which we complied to. But no one told us anything about your laws. That what for us is the most natural thing to do with the one you love…" Dipper caste his gaze on Pacifica. "…is considered taboo in public here. We didn't mean to offend anyone but as I said we had no warning and we couldn't have known what we did was not allowed."

The council whispered with each other for a few moments. "You have offered a unique defense." The councilman in the center said. "And while we are grateful for what you have done for our brave soldiers, we cannot allow ignorance of the law to be a defense, nor does it excuse your lack of self-control! It would undermine the authority of this council which has protected our people since the first council repelled the Great Inferno a hundred and fifty years ago! Crew of the Ixcia we find you guilty on all charges and hereby sentence you to reeducation for no less than ten years! You will be taken to Ruberak prison where the males and females of your group will be separated. Hopefully this will teach you to control your primitive carnal instincts!" The councilman banged his staff on the floor and four humans once again found themselves surrounded with guns pointed at their heads.

They were taken and forced to change into green prison jumpsuits made for them as they were being transported, they saw Ruberak, it was a massive cube made of smaller cubes that shifted positions. "Alright aliens say your goodbyes. This is the last time you'll see the others for ten years." One of the guards who wore blue said.

"This can't be happening! Mason please tell me you have a plan!" Pacifica begged.

"I'll think of something Paz. We all will!" Dipper said taking Pacifica's hand.

"It's not fair! For you to fall in love with me after so many years only for us to be forced apart!" Gideon yelled.

Mabel could only cry as she embraced the man she loved. "Hey none of that! That's what got you in here in the first place!" The guards shocked them with small sticks that looked like shepherds' crooks. "Alright males to right females to the left."

"Mason!" Pacifica cried.

"Pacifica!" Dipper called back.

"Gideon!" Mabel sobbed.

"Mabel! They can't keep us apart!" Gideon yelled.

Dipper and Gideon were pushed down a hole in the roof into a room with other prisoners and guards on floating platforms. "Welcome to Ruberak." One of the guards said. "Feel free to try and escape, since it is impossible, we find it helps prisoners realize to futility of thought against the shepherds." One guard said. No sooner than he did then Dipper and Gideon threw him off his platform and used it to fly back up the hole only for them to find themselves in a different chamber.

"How?" Dipper asked before they were shocked off.

Another guard brought the first one in from a completely different direction. "This place shifts and changes so much you can never find your way out without our permission." He explained. "You get two meals a day and you must attend mandatory reeducation sessions and patriotic rallies."

Much the same happened on the woman's side. "No thank you! I had my brain messed with enough for one lifetime! I don't need anymore!" Pacifica said.

The girls were led to a chamber with their cell. "Great the beds are sized for them too! If we want to sleep, we'll have to curl up in a ball." Mabel complained.

"Mabel is being in prison as hard as T.V. makes it look?" Pacifica asked as thick plastic door closed and locked them in.

"Well the one I went to before didn't separate men and women so at least we shouldn't have to worry about other inmates trying to have their way with us. But if they did try that with you, they'd find themselves with broken bones."

"I remember what you guys told me about Boulder. Mason protected you from him. Mason…"

"We will not let this place break us Pacifica!" Mabel declared. "These sheep may have forgotten what love is be we are going to show that nothing will stand in its way! Not if Mabel Pines has anything to say about it!"

The next morning the guys were given breakfast. "Not as bad as algae bars but it's close." Gideon said poking a bowl of orange goo with a spoon."

Dipper used his food to draw a line. "There has to be a pattern in how the chambers move or a point to control them. How else can they keep men and women apart in place that's always changing?"

"Can you figure it out?"

"I hope so."

The girls watch the guards come and go. "They got to have a way to keep from getting lost." Mabel said.

"The other prisoners have been avoiding us." Pacifica noted. "Not that surprising since we're so much bigger than they are. At least they won't mess with us."

A week later they were in one of their reeducation sessions. "Pacifica don't you see that giving your choices over to a higher authority is better for everyone?" a female therapist asked.

Pacifica crossed her arms. "For you people maybe, but I spent too much of my life with no say in how it goes! I am in control me! Your leaders focus so much on the big picture they forget the lives they affect. And FYI you are nowhere near as good a therapist as Ixcia."

"Why can't you be more like your friend Mabel, she's taking part in the group activity."

"And done." Mabel said.

"Good now show your art project with the color of your role in society." Mabel held up a clay pot painted like a rainbow.

"I don't understand." The therapist said confused.

"I painted it in a rainbow because I can choose what I want to be just like everyone else. Reach for your dreams ladies!"

The orewellian prisoners looked at Mabel like she was crazy. "I'm not sure I can take ten years of this. You two are going to be difficult patients."

"And proud of it." Pacifica said taking a card from the therapist without her noticing.

Dipper meanwhile pulled a circuit board out of his pant leg and hid it in a compartment under his bunk. "Do you think they saw us?"

"No." Gideon answered. "I rerouted their camera feeds, all they know is that something happened."

"It may take a few days' work but with this we can gain control of the cubes."

A week later Mabel and Pacifica were in their cell at lights out. "Mabel are you okay? You look sad." Pacifica asked.

"It's been two weeks since we're separated. This is the longest we've been apart since the four of us got back together. I never been apart from Dipper this long for my whole life and I can't help but worry. I can't help but think that if we do escape with, we'll still never find each other. I can't bear the thought of never seeing Gideon again." Mabel began to cry.

"I understand." Pacifica was crying too. "I miss your brother so much it's driving me crazy!" Pacifica calmed herself down. "Look at us, a couple love struck girls when we might be those guys only hope." Pacifica took the card she stole from its hiding spot.

"All that wandering, and we found only one locked door that wasn't another cell."

"This has to be the key to the exit now if only we find a way to get to the guys."

At the same time in the men's side Dipper and Gideon were working on the device they were building. "Just a small adjustment here, and now I just need the data and were good to go." Dipper said.

"Right here." Gideon wired the device to a stolen tablet. "You really think this will tell us where the girls are?"

Dipper worked the makeshift controls. "It does and the exit. We just need to let this charge for the rest of the night, and we'll pull it off we everyone's distracted by the rally tomorrow." Dipper placed their invention in it hiding spot.

"I'm not sure if I can sleep, I keep having nightmares of Mabel being hurt."

"I know what you mean. I have those too. Our bond as twins makes me think of her whenever I'm not thinking of Pacifica. The fact that I know she loves me but we're being kept apart feels worse than when I was obsessing over Wendy but being afraid of rejection. But all that ends tomorrow, after we get out, we'll need to steal a vehicle and sneak back to Ixcia."

"Anything to keep our family safe brother."

Out in the countryside a portal opened. The creature stepped out back onto the world that was its most frequent nesting grounds after so many years and long travels through worm holes and space. It looked up at the moons, it was home.

The next day the weekly rally began. "Before you reenter society you must be aware of the current state of the war with the Grand Cosmic Imperium." One of the guards said.

"All hail the Shepherds! Down with the Imperium! All hail the Shepherds! Down with the Imperium!" the other prisoners chanted.

"That's about the only thing about these guys I like." Dipper said.

The guard continued. "Last night the Council of Shepherds agreed to follow Empress Stellara on the path to enlightenment. Our people are now proud members of the Grand Cosmic Imperium."

"All hail the Shepherds! Long live the Empress! All hail the Shepherds! Long live the Empress!" The crowd cheered.

Dipper slapped his forehead. "Seriously! These guys really are sheep!" he whispered.

Gideon led Dipper to the door. "Let's just leave them to their chanting and get the girls." They gone into the next cube and pulled out their controller.

"If they hold things at the same time for both sexes then they should be having a rally in the females exercise yard." Dipper paused before hitting the switch. "Once we move, I'm sure alarms will go off all over."

"I'm ready!" Gideon said as Dipper push a button. When they felt the cube stop moving like Dipper said alarms went off. They opened the door they saw women prisoners at a rally with Pacifica and Mabel with them.

"Dipper, Gideon!" Mabel said.

Realizing what was going on Pacifica grabbed the electric prods from two nearby guards and shocked them. "Great timing! I take it you heard about the Imps!"

"Let's get out of here." Dipper said waving the girls in. He moved the cube to what was marked as the exit.

When the door opened, they found themselves in front of another door with a card reader on it. "Good thing we got this!" Mabel said pulling the keycard out of her shoe.

"Working together there nothing that stands in this family's way!" Dipper said as the door opened.

However, on the other side of the door a familiar face met them along with a squad of centurions. "It has been a long time, heretics. I came here to bring you to my ship for execution and you came right to me." Captain Kondar said.

"What are you doing here wind bag?" Gideon asked.

"It was my tactics that lead to the conquest of this world. Once I realized that all battle tactics had to be approved by the Council of Shepherds, I just had to jam their transmissions back home to freeze their fleets in indecision. The Hand of Suprema's fire power did the rest and the council surrendered last night with the only condition that they continue to lead this world as Imperium officials."

"They lied to their people to keep themselves in power." Dipper said. Outnumbered and outgunned Pacifica dropped her weapons and the humans surrendered.

It smelled a familiar scent in the air, the small things that freed it. On them was the scent bondage that once covered itself. It saw a small craft fly from a large box to a ring floating in the sky over a large lake. The creature made its way to the ring.

The Ixcia crew were brought before the council on the Hand of Suprema. The room they were in had four poles in a line, under suspended red orbs, a dummy was tied to one of them. The orb above glowed and a red light shot down and in an instant the dummy became nothing but a wisp of vapor. "Quick and painless, a merciful death. Your execution will show this world Imperium justice." Kondar said pointing to a camera.

"I didn't kill Veritas, Duradis did." Dipper to explain as the crew was secured to the poles. Dipper was on one end followed by Pacifica, then Mabel and Gideon.

Kondar tilted his head back with an indignant look on his face. "Lies and excuses won't help you now. There is no doubt about your guilt for the crime of heresy."

"Why? Why were we charged with heresy?" Mabel asked crying.

"Excuse me?"

"Dipper and I were just two kids asking for help and the next thing we knew your old emperor called every human a heretic. Why?"

"You truly don't know why?" Kondar asked.

"You Imps tend to shoot first and answer questions never!" Pacifica snapped.

Kondar ignored the comment. "Well then I should tell you."

"Is that necessary?" One of the Councilmen asked.

"I am an officer and a gentleman; it wouldn't do for me to execute prisoners ignorant of their crime. Besides as Imperium citizen you should know this too." Kondar turned back to his prisoners. "Five thousand years ago Primeros the first emperor was given a vison, he foresaw the great enemy, a being whose name shall not be spoken aloud, would arise from a particular area of space, with thousands of galaxies, and he would lay waste to the order of that he and his family would bring and cause untold suffering. Thus, Primeros forbade anyone to go in or out of this Forbidden Space lest they be tainted with evil and he also began the great conquest of neighboring galaxies to build up an army strong enough to combat this enemy when that dark day arrives."

"And what does this have to do with us?" Gideon asked.

"Eight years ago, our forces found the wreckage of a Zoxnar ship that was attacked by space pirates. The computer was badly damaged, but we were able to find that the ship had used an illegal quantum infuser to travel to and from Forbidden Space in hopes of getting a bioweapon to fight us. Other than their mission, the only fact about their trip to Forbidden Space was an image of the galaxy they went to and four days later two beings submitted an image of their home galaxy hoping to find their way back, it was the same. Our computers informed Emperor Grandus after which he made his judgement. You four are born of Forbidden Space, born of evil and must be destroyed."

"That's why? For something we never had a choice in?" Dipper asked stunned about what they had just learned.

"I am afraid so. Your only hope is to be reborn outside of that dark place in your next life." Dipper wracked his brain trying to figure a way out of this mess but there was nothing he could do. "Is there any final request before your sentence is carried out?" Kondar asked.

"Marry us!" Dipper yelled.

Kondar was confused. "Excuse me?"

Dipper tuned to Pacifica. "I love you and if this really is the end then then the only real regret I would have, is that we never married. So, will you marry me Pacifica?"

"Oh, Mason yes!" Pacifica cried.

"Us too!" Mabel said.

"Yes, I waited years for Mabel to love me back and even if it is just a few more moments I want to spend the rest of my life as Mabel's husband."

"As captain of this ship you can perform a marriage ceremony, right? Dipper asked.

"Yes, I can." Kondar said.

"Sir you're not seriously going to do as these heretics ask?" one of the centurions guarding them asked.

"I will, if they wish to seek their final moments in comfort with each other then I shall. Not only as officer, or a gentleman, but as a hopeless romantic." Kondar sighed. "I want no interruptions, am I understood?"

"Yes sir!" all the centurions said.

Kondar took a deep breath and began. "We are here this day because these souls wish to share their journey with each other. To join their light together and shine their love on the universe." Kondar turned to Dipper. "Do you Mason Pines pledge your heart to this woman? To share with her your joys and sorrows, your triumphs and tragedies, until death separates you?"

"I do." Dipper said.

The Captain turned to Pacifica. "Do you Pacifica Northwest pledge your heart to this man? To share with him your joys and sorrows, your triumphs and tragedies, until death separates you?"

"I do." Pacifica said with a smile.

Gideon's turn was next. "Do you Gideon Gleeful pledge your heart to this woman? To share with her your joys and sorrows, your triumphs and tragedies, until death separates you?"

"Yes, I do." Gideon said.

Finally, Kondar spoke to Mabel. "Do you Mabel Pines pledge your heart to this man? To share with him your joys and sorrows, your triumphs and tragedies, until death separates you?"

"I do. Always and forever!" Mabel proclaimed.

Kondar gave a satisfied nod. "Then by the authority of the Grand Cosmic Imperium, from this moment onward let it be known you are now husband and wife. Begin the execution." The orbs above them began to glow and the newlyweds braced for the end when the whole room shook, and the orbs dimmed. "What's going on now?"

"Sir!" a voice over the comm spoke. "It has broken into the ship and is tearing it apart! Nothing we throw at it can even slow it down! Arrrrgh!"

"What is it? Report!" Kondar demanded but there was only static. Then bursting out of the floor a familiar large red reptile broke the bonds holding the crew of the Ixcia.

"Wait isn't that the dragon we saved before we were abducted?" Dipper asked.

"It can't be!" the Shepherds council all screamed. "The Great Inferno has returned!"

"Large fire breathing monster? Yeah, Great Inferno is a good name for it." Mabel said.

Pacifica couldn't believe what was happening. "So, the reason these creeps are in power is because my ancestor enslaved this dragon and the first council took credit for it? What a bunch lairs, the lot of them!"

The centurions fired on the dragon, but their weapons had no effect accept making it angry. The dragon breathed fire and the council ran while their robes and wool were singed. It then lowered its head to the humans. "He remembers us!" Gideon said climbing on while the others followed. The dragon broke through walls jumping into the air flying by flames coming out of its feet and rear.

"No, they won't escape me again! Not like this!" Kondar yelled.

Then the P.A. system said. "Engines failing! All hands brace for impact!"

As the Hand of Suprema fell into the lake below Kondar grabbed the hair at the top back section of his head and tore it out while he screamed. "Noooooooooo!" Now there was only hair on the base of his skull.

Taking hold of the dragon's horns Mabel steered their savior to the dock where Ixcia was still parked. They got off and the dragon walked off having a happy rampage across the city. "Thanks, old friend!" Mabel said waving goodbye.

"Ixcia, reactivate and prepare for emergency launch." Dipper ordered.

"Confirmed." Ixcia said coming back online. She opened the cargo door, and everyone ran inside seeing Soostron turn back on as the ship lifted off. "You changed clothes. What happened on your date?" Ixcia asked.

"We'll explain later!" Gideon said.

"The Imps are here! Cloak us and jump out of this system!" Pacifica said.

Ixcia understood. "Confirmed. Hyper jump in 5…4…3…2…1." They were out of the system. "I must assume I was offline for more than an hour, what happened?"

"It's been two weeks Ixcia." Dipper explain making his way up to the living quarters to change his clothes.

"Yeah we were arrested for kissing of all things and the Imperium took over the night before our escape attempt." Gideon said.

"It was just luck we got out alive. We were rescued by a creature we met just before we all were abducted." Pacifica continued after everyone changed clothes. She put their prison uniforms into the port airlock and blew them into space.

The conversation went back to Dipper in the common area. "But the thing is we finally know why the Imperium declared us heretics, our home galaxy is in a region they call forbidden space. Ixcia what do you know about it?"

"I do know it's location compared to the Isoban galaxy, however if we do get a quantum infuser to find one galaxy in a region as vast as forbidden space would take three hundred years if we search galaxy by galaxy."

"So, we need a map or a chart of the region to narrow the search down to our lifetimes."

"What I don't understand is how that dragon got from earth to a planet in another galaxy." Gideon asked.

"I have information on these creatures. They can find trans-dimensional wormholes to travel vast distances, however the technology to detect these phenomena doesn't currently exist."

"So much for that being an option to get us home." Pacifica groaned.

Mabel clapped her hands. "Guys, you're all forgetting the most important thing. We all just got married!"

"I have missed a lot, congratulations all of you." Ixcia said as Soostron did a floaty dance.

"Oh! How could I have forgotten?" Gideon said flustered.

"You don't regret it do you Giddy?"

"Of course not, Mrs. Gleeful." Gideon chuckled.

Pacifica leaned her head on her new husband's shoulder. "Pacifica Pines, I like the sound of that."

"Me too." Dipper said. He then had a lot of thoughts rush into his head. "Oh man! We don't have wedding rings! Jewelry can be expensive, and we don't have a lot of quan now! How are going arrange our room assignments? None of our beds are big enough for two people! Wait I never had sex before! What if I'm bad at…"

"Mason." Pacifica said pulling Dipper into a kiss. "You're spiraling. Don't worry, Ixcia check to see if we got any job offers in the past two weeks."

"We have three." Ixcia said.

"Good, we can save up on new beds and we can make do in the meantime."

"Yeah and your forgetting that out here we can get things made of gold and synthetic diamonds for cheap. It's going to be okay Bro-Bro." Mabel said.

"And as far as sex is concerned, I know it's a skill you get better at with practice and I intend to give you a lot of it. Before with the Felggur I tempted a lot of my victims with my body but now it is only for you, you will have in love what no one else could."

Dipper smiled. "Yeah, you guys are right, this whole thing started out as a nightmare but look at us now. We know which way home is now and we're closer than ever before. We should celebrate! We should still have fresh enough food to make Drindar sandwiches and Apa tea. Then I was thinking we all start practicing."

After the food was done the four lovers were drinking and laughing and just happy to be together. They had Eyes on the Imperium on. "The planet Orewellis is in chaos after the revelation of the lies concerning a long-standing threat by the previous government. Former members of their space forces have resumed hostilities, fires and protests have broken out and are still out of control, and local law enforcers are now engaged in open rebellion. The lead of the Orewellis front, Captain Kondar was not available for comment as he was too busy in salvage operations of the warship Hand of Suprema."

Gideon had something to say. "You know, while I am glad Mabel is taking my family name, I considered myself a part of the Pines family for years now."

"Me too." Pacifica said.

"Those Imps aren't going to stop us from getting home!" Mabel said rising her glass.

"Our home in forbidden space." Agreed Dipper.

The family gave a big cheer. "Pines! Pines! Pines!"

Seven years later,

"I told you God was watching over you." Sarah said. "The kindness you showed that creature was repaid."

"Yeah talk about good karma." Wendy agreed. "And that's where you got that three-hundred-year figure from."

"But there is no need to worry about this great enemy." Ford said. "They already told me about that part, and I can assure all of you he is no longer a threat."

Pacifica looked at the ring she got a few weeks afterward. "It wasn't the wedding I dreamed of, but it certainly was one I'll never forget."

Dipper then got an idea. "Hey why don't we renew our vows? Have a proper wedding for you guys to enjoy. That way we can get the certificate with witnesses and everything."

"That's a great idea Dipper!" Mabel said.

"I'd love to see my queen in a wedding gown." Gideon agreed.

"And we'll pay for it all. Whatever you want." Preston said.

"Just as long as we do it on the same date." Pacifica wished. "We couldn't celebrate it every year, but I want to keep our anniversary."

"When is your anniversary?" Andrew asked.

Dipper pulled out the Scantrix. "Ixcia can you convert it to the earth calendar?"

"The proper date would be August 24th." Said the A.I.

"One week before summer ends and our birthday." Mabel cheered.

"Oh boy, you guys know I cry at weddings." Stan said.

"Think Amelia could be your flower girl?" Grey asked.

"Of course! She'd be perfect." Agreed Pacifica.

So that was it. They were going to have another wedding. The space explores gazed at their partners and thought back to their wedding night.

Seven years ago,

"I think you should move into our rooms." Mabel said. "We picked those so we could get to the bridge fast in case of emergency."

"I'm fine with that but I'll miss the painting Mason made for me." Pacifica sighed.

Dipper smiled and took his wife's hand. "It will still be there. That is your space and you can go back to talk to Ixcia whenever you like."

"Sounds good me." Gideon said.

"Good." Mabel rubbed Gideons chest and then began pushing him into their room. "Now come on Honey! It's time to get on to the main event of the evening! Goodnight Bro, you're going to do great but not as good as us!"

Gideon was surprised at Mabel eagerness. "Oh my!"

Pacifica laughed. "I glad to have her as a sister-in-law."

"Things are never boring with her around." Dipper did a bow as he opened the door. "After you wife."

"Thank you, husband."

They went in and a few minutes later as Soostron went to the bridge do make a minor adjustment he heard. "Pacifica, how long have you had that tattoo?" That night there were no more virgins aboard the Ixcia. That first night of passion reaffirmed that no matter what challenges lay ahead, the Pines family would face them together.


	12. The Cotax Run

Chapter 12

The Cotax Run

"All across the country, it's Friday Night with Frida!" an announcer said on a sound stage. "And here is your host Frida Wallace!" a woman with shoulder length blonde hair wearing a green dress came onto the stage.

"Welcome everyone, tonight we have some very special guests. Back from the first moon landing in decades, the crew of the Ixcia!" Frida said as the Pines family came on stage and sat down on couch while she sat down behind a desk with a bowl with a goldfish in it. "But that must have be like spending the night in the backyard compared to fifteen years in another galaxy."

Mabel was the first to speak. "Still it felt great to help get the new moon base started. And thanks for having us on the show."

"Thank you all for coming, I can hardly believe you went up there with a crew of eight more, set up the first stage of the base, and came back in just two days."

"N.A.S.A. already had the parts and modules ready, we just cut down on travel time and construction." Dipper said. "We'll be back there to resupply them in a couple days and by this time next year several space agencies will have ships as fast as ours. Then we can begin settling planets in other solar systems."

"You know Dipper, nerds all over the world love you guys for making all their sci-fi dreams come true but also hate you for ending science fiction with making it all ordinary."

"Well they are already getting their pay back for it." Pacifica joked. "Dipper has to avoid spoilers for just about everything he wants to watch, which is a lot. His binge watching is the one bad habit he picked up after we got home."

Dipper looked embarrassed. "For fifteen years I missed a good portion of an interconnected line of superhero movies, and a lot of tv shows. I just want to get caught up!"

"After everything you went through out there with alien empires, space pirates, and bounty hunters I would think you just want to spend your free time enjoying some peace and quiet for a change. Wouldn't you be glad to be bored for once?" Frida asked.

"No!" the whole family yelled.

Gideon then cleared things up. "Sorry about that Frida but you need to understand, in space having nothing to do for long periods of time almost drove us nuts once."

"Worse two months ever." Pacifica added.

"With everything going wrong during that time it ended the honeymoon pretty quickly." Mabel said.

"You had problems in your marriage from boredom, in space?" Frida asked.

Dipper decided to explain but left out parts that were private. "When this happened, we were all married for about six months, Odysseus Enterprises was just hired for a job that we really wanted, and it looked like our luck was finally changing for the better. That should have been the first sign that something bad was going to happen."

Six years ago,

The lights turned on in Dipper and Pacifica's room. "It is 0630, your requested wake up time." Ixcia said.

The couple stirred from under the sheets of the larger bed that they put in. "Alright Ixcia." Dipper said sitting up, his chest bare while everything below the waist was still under the covers.

Pacifica pulled her husband back down and pressed her naked body against his. "We set that to wake us up, not to get us out of bed. That should be in thirty, forty-five minutes."

They began to kiss but then Dipper pulled back. "Paz, no. We got a lot to do today and the first thing is that I make you all some breakfast."

"But I'm not hungry, for food." Pacifica kissed Dipper's neck.

It took all of Dipper's willpower to resist his wife. "We have to get to work! We do this passenger job then we can finally get away from the Imps, maybe even find a way home. I'll make it up to you tonight, we'll do what you want, okay?"

"Fine." Pacifica pouted. She got out of bed, her back turned as she began to put on a clean pair of panties. Pacifica shook her rear as Dipper couldn't take his eyes off her tattoo. "Then you better save some strength, because I'll want that forty-five minutes Darling."

"Yes dear." Dipper said with a big smile.

They got dressed and as Dipper opened the door Mabel said. "Good morning guys!"

Dipper closed the door right away and used the intercom. "Mabel put on your pants!"

A few minutes later Mabel was back fully dressed blushing alongside Gideon. "Whoops, Sorry bro! The four of us can hardly keep those on these days."

"It was my fault too Dipper. I should have noticed but I can't help but take all of her in." Gideon said lost in his wife's eyes.

"I think we all might be turning into nymphomaniacs." Pacifica said.

Dipper decided to pump the breaks. "Let's just put this behind us." Later after breakfast was served, they had a family/company meeting. "As you know we are picking up Dr. Turgo at a trading outpost bordering Cotax space." As Dipper talked Ixcia displayed a picture of a green skinned alien with big nostrils and a map of the local region with Imperium space in yellow, Cotax space in red, and small group of regions of unclaimed space in blue with a space station marked inside the blue area. "Dr. Turgo is developing a quantum infuser for his people and if we get him to their research station in addition to our usual fee, he has agreed to make us one."

Gideon whooped and cheered. "Boy howdy! With that we can finally leave the Isoban galaxy behind!"

"If we get to another galaxy that the Imperium hasn't touched then maybe we can find someone who can point us home." Mabel said.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." Dipper continued. "We have to get permission from the Cotax to pass through their space to avoid the Imps."

"That's right." Pacifica said. "The Cotax are one of the few races that the Imps haven't taken any territory from."

"Dr. Turgo is talking with Cotax representatives at the outpost now. Pacifica and I will help finish those talks but you two have to take care of something else and it has to do with how we've all been acting lately."

"What?" Mabel asked.

"We've all been very happy since we've married but we also have been letting things slide, were almost out food and we need enough for the two-week trip for five, make sure we have things he can eat. Also, we need to get replacement parts, we all have been slacking off on maintenance."

"Right, I'll get the vital components first." Gideon said.

"And I'll get the groceries." Mabel added.

"One last thing and this is for all of us. This going to be the first passenger we've had since our wedding and we should probably try to tone it down while he's here. We don't want a repeat of this morning."

Pacifica wrapped her arms around her husband and whispered in his ear. "Mason, I think your worrying too much. We'll put in him in one of the back two rooms, so he doesn't overhear anything, but he knows he's going to be on a ship with two newlywed couples."

A few hours later Ixcia was docked at a small space station. The crew went their separate ways Dipper and Pacifica found their way to a room that not only had their client but two large alien centipedes. "Ah, the crew of the ship that wishes to use our space as a shortcut." One of them said.

"I hope Dr. Turgo has convinced you of the necessity of our mission Admiral." Dipper said sitting down.

"His promise of technology to even the odds against the Imperium has swayed the high command to grant your ship passage."

Pacifica smiled. "Great! It would have taken us three months of avoiding Imp patrols to go around."

"We have even taken the liberty of charting your course. Major." The Cotax gestured to his colleague who touched a few controls and the screen on the nearby wall shown a rather erratic course.

"We have plotted a route that will help you avoid our colonies, military outposts, and secured areas. Deviation from this course is not recommend. Additionally, you will have your ships weapons and cloak deactivated in our space, you will not take any scans, or contact any Cotax ship."

"_No wonder the Imps haven't got them, these guys are more paranoid then I was back in Gravity Falls."_ Dipper thought.

The Major continued. "You will be required to stop for inspection at the fourteen following locations…"

"Excuse me but this is unacceptable!" Dr. Turgo said as with each angered exhale the space above his nostrils expanded like balloons before returning to normal size. "I studied the specifications of their ship and according to my calculations it will take them no less than two months to follow that course!"

"Doctor please calm down." Dipper said. "But he does make a valid point. We were planning for a two-week voyage and with no stops on this route except for inspections we wouldn't be able to resupply. Maybe we can make a course that's a little more direct?"

"Absolutely not!" The Admiral yelled. "Surely you can get additional supplies here."

Dipper was about to argue his point when the room shook. Then a voice came over the stations P.A. system. "Attention, attention. Imperium forces are attacking the station! Security report to your battle stations! Residents are to report to the nearest shelter!"

"Guess we're out of time! Okay we'll take your course! Just transfer it to my scantrix!" Dipper said.

"Done. We'll head back to our warship and cover your escape!" The Admiral said.

Pacifica nodded and held out her hand. "Thanks, Doctor come with us!"

"This is the kind of thing I was trying to avoid!" Turgo said as they ran.

"We got most of the supplies loaded before the shooting started." Mabel said as the trio came in from the starboard airlock.

"Ixcia follow the course I just downloaded and get us into Cotax space as fast as you can!" Dipper ordered.

"Confirmed." Ixcia said. She undocked from the station and flew away while a red hourglass shaped ship fired on three Imperium cruisers. "Hyper Jump in 5…4…3…2…1."

Gideon wiped sweat of his brow. "That was close."

"Do have your research?" Pacifica asked Dr. Turgo.

"Right in here." He tapped his finger on his head.

"Good." Dipper then sighed. "Mabel, Gideon, I've got some bad news. The Cotax would only let us in if we follow this ridiculous course that will take us two months!"

Mabel was not happy. "But I only got us enough food for two weeks! Once that's gone, we'll only have those gross algae bars!"

"Frankly I prefer them." Dr. Turgo said. "Leaves me more time to run my calculations."

Gideon rubbed Mabel's shoulders. "Mabel, Marshmallow, look at it like this way, a month and a half from now we'll never have to have one of those things again."

"In any event, doctor let's show you to your room." Dipper said.

It was one-week later Mabel and Gideon had just woken up. "Good morning my queen." Gideon said.

"Morning Giddy." Mabel then felt the sweat on herself from last night. "I could use a vibro-cleaning."

"Go on ahead my sweet. I going to lift a few weights and then maybe I'll join you."

"Okay!" Mabel got her clothes on and grabbed a clean set and made her way to the lavatory. She stripped down and place her dirty clothes on the rack and turned on the cleaner which made a low pitch sound. While she waited for it to get to the frequency she liked, Mabel looked in a nearby mirror. "You are so lucky Mabel, you're on the adventure of a lifetime with a loving husband like you always wanted, what could make it…" Then the cleaner changed to a high-pitched sound cracking the mirror. Mabel looked up and saw the cleaner was smoking.

Ten minutes later Gideon was finished looking over the vibrational cleaner, hovering by his rocket pack. "This one part failed and that started a chain reaction with the other components."

"Can it be fixed?" Dipper asked.

"I could jerry rig one replacement part but not the whole thing."

"But you got all those replacement parts." Mabel said.

"For vital systems like life support or the engines."

Dipper sighed. "Then we are going to start to stink. Paz is not going to be happy."

Pacifica spoke to over the comm. "Guys! Get to the common area now!"

Everyone got there and Eyes on the Imperium was on. "This just in, our noble centurions have finally crushed the last of the terrorists of the Onyx Brotherhood." The Soothsayer slid to the side showing an image of the wreckage of several kill cruisers. "Their leader General Piker is…" The feed cut out and an impact was felt.

"No!" Gideon yelled. "Ixcia what happened?"

"A meteoroid has destroyed secondary receiver array. We can still receive direct communications, but we no longer have access to the cosmo-net."

"Let me guess, that wasn't a primary system either, so we don't have the parts to replace it." Mabel said.

It was two weeks in Dipper was right, Pacifica was not happy. "Mason, put your boots in the closet when you're not wearing them! I almost tripped on them!"

"I'm sorry okay, I just forgot!" Dipper tossed his boots in the closet they shared.

"It's bad enough that the vibra-cleaner is out but I refuse to have our quarters become a pig sty!"

"I know it's bad but…"

"I can hardly sleep with your stinky pits!"

Dipper had enough. "You're not the only one losing sleep! You've been keeping me up with your snoring!"

Pacifica couldn't believe what her husband said. "I do NOT snore!"

Across the hall the things weren't much better with the Gleefuls. "Gideon please, come to bed." Mabel said.

"You go on to sleep. I got to finish this." Gideon fiddled with some machinery.

"Can't it wait until tomorrow? You barely talked all day."

"Blast it woman, stop being so clingy!" Gideon snapped.

"What?! After all these years trying and waiting to get together now your suddenly bored with me?! Whatever! Good night!" Mabel wrapped herself in their bedsheet and turn her back toward Gideon.

Halfway through their journey and things have not gotten any better. Mabel and Pacifica were in the cargo bay, they set up a game of bowling using empty bottles of apa tea as pins and a ball shaped part from the virbra-cleaner. Pacifica bowled a strike and Mabel clapped. "See I told you, it would work, I'm a master at makeshift entertainment. That was a great throw, set them up again Soostron." The robot reset the pins while Mabel picked up the ball

"It was easy, I just pictured the pins are my husband's face!" Pacifica said. "I never thought I'd be playing a game with trash, but I'd do just about anything to get rid of this boredom."

"I hear you sister, Dipper can be a slob, but at least he doesn't have everything in your quarters in a specific spot and complains if you move one little thing, even Waddles!"

"Gideon…" Pacifica growled. "He nearly bit my head off when I bumped into the other day. What is with the men on this ship lately? Did you know Dipper actually said I snore?"

Mabel got a confused look on her face. "But you do snore."

"No, I don't! How could you possibly know if I did?"

"You and I slept in the same tent before we were abducted, I heard you."

"I should have known you'd take your brother's side!"

"I'm just telling the truth!"

"I DON'T SNORE!"

It wasn't much better up in the common area using the holoprojector Dipper and Gideon were playing a makeshift game of Dungeons, Dungeons, & more Dungeons. "Probabilitor casts a spell of Maddening Itchiness on you." Dipper said.

"I counter with a spell of Iron Skin." Gideon said while working on the same device he was weeks ago.

"Gideon your character is a barbarian, He can't cast spells! You're not even paying attention!" Dipper said annoyed. "What are you even working on?"

Dipper reached over and grabbed the machine. "Hey!" Gideon pulled it back.

"Gideon, that's what left of the secondary receiver! Why are trying you to fix something that is beyond repair?"

"You wouldn't understand! Forget the game! I need to work on this." Gideon left for the engine room.

Dipper yelled as Gideon left. "You asked me to show you how to play!"

"Is there something wrong?" Dr. Turgo asked.

"How do you stay sane? I get you don't mind the food but without being able to get clean and nothing to do how can you stand it?"

"I shed my skin once a week and living among other aliens I have learned to tolerate much worse odors. As for entertainment, I need nothing more than my mind to run the calculations of my work, making a quantum infuser is just a small part as I look over the math of the creation of the universe. I am sorry that this voyage has taken this toll on your family Captain Pines."

"I just hope we can finish it without tearing each other apart."

Five days later another inspection was finished. "Ten times they scanned Ixcia and ten times they find nothing they have to worry about! They're just wasting their time!" Mabel said.

"Well we have no choice." Dipper closed the airlock behind the Cotax inspection team.

"I know that Dipper! I'm not an idiot!"

"Do we have to do this now?"

"All crew members please report to the bridge, a situation has arisen that threatens the crew." Ixcia said with her enlarged avatar.

The whole crew assembled. "What's the problem Ixcia?" Pacifica asked.

"The problem is the growing anger between the four of you and as part of my directive to see to the wellbeing of this crew I must intervene."

"Ixcia, we are just having a hard time with this trip that all." Gideon said.

"I disagree, it has been several weeks since any of you have been intimate with your partners." Everyone hung their heads.

Mabel then lifted her head. "Wait a minute. How do you know when the last time we were intimate was?"

"You forget that she sees everything that happens on this ship all the time." Dipper said.

"Do not worry. I do not record anything that would be considered personal or private." Ixcia reassured. "What I do not understand is that you have endured downed systems and disagreements in the past under much more stressful circumstances and never have the tensions between the four of you been this great."

"Maybe that's part of the problem." Dipper thought for a moment. "Here in Cotax space there isn't much threat to us, so we have a lot more time and focus for our anger to fester. When we can be attacked at almost any time we tend to play down the small stuff."

"What do we do about it?" Gideon asked.

"All data points to you talking with your spouses and try to settle your differences." Ixcia said.

"Like the mature adults we should be." Mabel sighed. The couples went to their rooms to talk. "Okay Gideon spill! What has been going on with you! Ever since the systems went down you've been a big grump and I want to know why."

Gideon clenched his fists. "It's not that easy! None of you can understand!"

"I'm your wife Giddy. I'll understand."

"No! You can't because you were never a Raider!" Gideon yelled before he began to cry.

"That report about the Onyx Brotherhood."

"I don't know if the commander is dead or alive and he's the only one left. Everything they…we fought for together and now it is all for nothing."

Mabel hugged her husband tight. "Gideon your wrong. Even if Piker is gone which I'm sure he's not, it wasn't for nothing! They kept you alive long enough for you to come back to us, to me. Piker gave you a mission to help us all get home, as long as your alive then so are the best parts of the Onyx Brotherhood. I'm sorry, I should have known that news would hurt you."

"No, I never should have pushed you away. I'm supposed to protect you and here I am blubbering like a baby."

"You never have to hide your tears with me."

Across the hall Dipper and Pacifica were also having a discussion. "All right Paz let's talk. I know things are kind of gross right now, but all this complaining is something I would have expected from the old you. Is it really about my leaving my boots on the floor or how I smell?"

"No, you were right about having all this free time. I've had a lot of time to think lately, about me and my family. Do you remember the last job we did before this one?"

Dipper thought for a moment. "We delivered transmitter components."

"Close. They were fakes while we smuggled stolen fire jades."

"Right. We agreed to do it so Rensock would forgive our debt." Dipper didn't care for the crime boss.

"Last month I was going over the books from that job and I realized that I was doing what my family has done for generations! Lie and cheat, the only difference is while they got rich, I'm doing it just to keep this ship going!" Pacifica sat down on their bed. "You were right to say that I've been acting like my old self because when I found out I began to wonder if I really changed at all. I was angry at myself becoming what I vowed to never be and when I almost tripped…"

"I was an easy target."

"Yelling at you seemed to confirm my fears which made me angrier, so I lashed out at everyone else acting even more like the spoiled brat that I was! I'm disgusting!"

Dipper took Pacifica's hand. "No, you have changed. The old you wouldn't have cared about what she did to make money or if she hurt our feelings, you hate yourself for it."

"I should have talked about this before with you or Ixcia instead of complaining about your habits."

"I'm not blameless here. I got angry and picked the first thing that came into my head to attack you, the truth is your snore is very cute."

"That is sweet of you to say Mason but for the last time I do not…"

Ixcia played a recording of light snoring. "I apologize for interrupting, but I believe this recording from last night is necessary to keep the progress you made."

"Okay I know when I'm proven wrong."

That night elsewhere in the galaxy Vax contacted a Cotax. "Argraf you there?"

"Yeah I'm here what do you want?"

"I need you to disable the sensor grid at the following coordinates. My sources tell me the bounty I'm hunting will be close in a few days." Vax forwarded the data.

"If I'm caught doing this I could get in serious trouble."

"I saved your reputation, you owe me, don't worry your ships won't see me but that grid is another matter."

At the same time a different Cotax wearing a yellow robe got a call from Crix. "Greetings brother."

"Greetings brother. I have a way for you to help me serve the one true master. There is a ship in you space with an item I require. Can you make it so the detection grid gives a false signal so that I may pass?"

"I could just get the item myself. If you attack the ship, then our forces will be on you in minutes."

"No! I will not tell anyone what it is! I have a way will keep them from calling for help. Either help me and the master will reward you or you get nothing at all!"

"Very well we all live to please the master."

Only one week was left on the course and Dr. Turgo had left his room for his daily algae bar. He found the whole crew in the common area playing a card game. "Well you all seemed to have patched things up."

"We're getting there. We've all been talking but it still might be a bit before things are completely back to normal." Dipper said.

"How's your work going Doc?" Mabel asked.

Turgo smiled. "Think I'll have the final calculations finished in a few days, then after a week we'll have a working prototype."

"Great! And with just one week left things finally seem to be looking up!" Gideon said.

Then the whole ship shook.

Pacifica pulled herself off the floor. "We got to stop saying things like that!"

Everyone ran to the bridge. "Ixcia report!" Mabel ordered taking the helm.

"We are under attack by Vax." Ixcia said.

"What? The Cotax promised me safe passage!" Turgo asked rapidly inflating and deflating the sacks behind his nostrils.

"He's not after you." Dipper explained as he got to navigation. "Because we damaged his perfect record the guy has become obsessed with catching us." Gideon sat at engineering while Pacifica took tactical.

"He's opening a channel with us." Ixcia said.

Vax appeared on screen while his wing shaped ship flew by. "Surrender, your shields can't last forever."

"Neither can yours!" Pacifica began to target Vax's ship.

"Wait, if you fire the Cotax will attack us! Same if you cloak." Dr. Turgo said.

"Then why aren't they here shooting him?" Dipper asked.

"Scatter field generator. As long as they're at long range they can't see me." Vax explained.

"Incoming signal from Crix." Ixcia said.

"Crix too?" the whole crew was shocked.

"Another bounty hunter?" Dr. Turgo asked.

"No, but he thinks we have something he wants." Mabel said after switching the channel the Crix. "Listen Crix, the Cotax have gone over the ship over a dozen times with a fine-tooth comb! We don't have what you're looking for!"

"Lies! Surrender and prepare to be boarded! And don't think of calling for help! I'm jamming all long-range communications. I've also masked my ship, so their scans will show one of their own ships!" Crix fired on the Ixcia.

"Great after fighting each other for two months we make up only for these bozos to blast us!" Gideon complained.

"Fighting…" Dipper said.

Mabel finished the thought. "…each other." The whole pines family knew what to do. "Do what you need to do guys! I try to keep them off us."

Dipper went straight to work. "Routing each of you to one of the ships."

Vax was in front of Pacifica. "Hey fluffy, do you really think you'll get your rep back? Do you even know who else is shooting at us? What will everyone say when they find out you needed help from a newbie."

Vax growled. "I was here first!"

At the same time Gideon talked to Crix. "Crix this other guy is a bounty hunter; you think he'll just let you on board? All he needs to get the bounty on us is show that he blew up our ship. So, go ahead and keep shooting while he blows your prize into stardust."

Crix was livid. "Nooooooo!"

Vax contacted Crix. "Back off! This is my bounty rookie!"

"The Ixcia is mine! No one shall have it but me!" Crix fired on Vax and the two twisted and turned as they shot at each other.

Dr. Turgo looked on the scene. "Wait…"

"Ixcia now! While their distracted!" Dipper said. They jumped leaving both of their enemies behind.

"With their gear set the way it is the Cotax must be confused by one of their ships shooting at nothing." Mabel laughed.

"We might not always get along, but this family can handle anything!" Pacifica said.

Gideon knew what to do next. "All together now y'all!"

"Pines! Pines! Pines!" the whole crew cheered.

A week later the Ixcia was finally out of Cotax space and docked at the science station. "Well doctor it wasn't pleasant, but we got you here." Dipper said. "The fee has been paid and all that left is to make arrangements for giving us that infuser."

"Yes, there might be a problem, something that might throw all my calculations off." Dr. Turgo said. "But to be sure I would need evidence that there are other universes."

"Oh, I took a brief trip through the multiverse once. Don't recommend it." Mabel said.

"I was afraid of that. Watching those two ships fight got me thinking about my calculations and I came to conclusion that the existence of multiple realities would mean that I've been going about the math of the infuser all wrong. If we made one based on the work that I was doing it would likely blow your ship into a thousand pieces. I'm sorry but if I must start over from scratch and my people won't have one for you for five to ten years if we can hold off the Imperium that long. You made that trip for nothing."

"It's okay doctor." Dipper shrugged. "At least we have a buffer against the Imps for now."

"And we didn't get blown up which is always a plus for this family." Mabel said.

Gideon and Pacifica came up to them smiling. "We have good news." Pacifica pointed to Gideon.

"We looked on the Cosmo-net and no one knows what happened to Commander Piker! The imps wouldn't hesitate to confirm that he's dead!" Gideon fist pumped.

"That's great guys but it looks like we aren't getting a quantum infuser here after all." Dipper said.

Dr. Turgo bowed his head. "All I can do to make it up to you is to give you additional funds to repair your ship and the location of an uninhabited planet that should have food other than algae bars on the way to the nearest port.

Pacifica cuddled up to Dipper. "After that trip we could all use some time off the ship."

A few days later Ixcia was on a planet with several islands with tropical beaches. Mabel and Pacifica had just got out of the water wearing swimsuits they bought but never thought they would use. Mabel was in a yellow tube top bikini while Pacifica wore a pink string bikini. "It feels so good to wash myself in the ocean." Pacifica said.

Mabel nodded. "And the juices from that fruit we found makes a great shampoo." She then looked to see Dipper and Gideon come out of the trees holding several purple spikey pieces of fruit. Dipper was in only red swim trunks while Gideon wore green trunks. "Hey guys!"

"This should be enough to last us until we get to port. They're tart but much better than algae bars." Gideon said.

"Do we have to leave so soon?" Pacifica asked.

Dipper shook his head. "No, we can stay a couple more days."

"Good, because tonight I think we should all go for a swim under those twin moons."

"We might even leave the swimsuits on the ship if you guys want." Mabel said caressing Gideon's pecs.

"We'll see." Dipper said as Pacifica did the same with her husband. "Hey Pacifica, I was wondering, what do think about me growing a goatee?"

"Let me put it this way if you ever grow one then either you shave it off or I will. With my knife."

"Okay, so no. I can live with that." Dipper said. The Pines family began to laugh, it was the best end to the worst trip they have had so far.


	13. Sound of Blunder

Chapter: 13

Sound of Blunder

Dipper, Gideon and Ford were down in Ford's old bunker. "Thank you, for helping me upgrade these systems. Since Wendy took over protecting the town the cryonics have gotten more wear and tear over the years." Ford said.

"I just want to get this over with Grunkle Ford, being near the shapeshifter and Mr. Whathisface is bringing back some uncomfortable memories." Dipper said.

"Believe me I understand."

"Sixer! You got to see this!" It was Stan with Mabel and Pacifica. Stan handed Ford a newspaper.

Ford looked at the paper. "Glass Shard Beach is getting a new condo complex."

"And to build them they tore down the old zeppelin factory."

"Is that bad?" Gideon asked.

"That place was falling apart when the two of us were kids. But it was the site of one of our greatest adventures before we left home. We never did find out what exactly that creature was, but he would have killed us both."

Stan thought back. "We're just lucky those Canadian secret agents…"

"Pulled that wall on top of it." Mabel finished.

"Yes, how did you know about that Mabel?" Ford asked.

"Yeah we never told that story to anyone." Stan said.

Mabel looked nervous. "Um, you see…"

"Do we really need to hide it from them?" Pacifica asked.

The Pines brothers responded together. "Hide what?"

Dipper sighed. "What do you remember about those secret agents?"

Stan thought back to that time. "There were four of them. Two were women, one was a hot blonde, another was a brunette, there was a big jerk with white hair…"

Ford realized what was going on. "…and one of the men had brown hair and a coat like yours! It was you! All of you? But how?"

Mabel explained. "Well to understand we have to go back a very long time ago for you but not so long for us."

Five years ago,

"… and done." Mabel said as she lowered a crate with the power loader.

"Thanks," said a brown skinned alien with three legs. "These medical supplies will help a lot of my people, Planet Jergon thanks you."

Dipper held up his quan disk. "No problem. Now if you'll just pay us, we got another delivery to make in the Indaro system and we have to be there in five days."

Their client touched the disk. "Five days? You'll never make it time. It takes two weeks to get there from here.

"Not if we cut across the Klodik Expanse."

"You crazy?! Ships fly into that place and never come out!"

"There's a place like that on our home planet called the Bermuda Triangle. We faced weird stuff before and we're fine." Mabel said.

"But it is most likely space pirates, which we faced several times before too." Dipper said.

"It's your funeral."

While Mabel and Dipper got the Power Loader on board Pacifica and Gideon had come back with the jet bike. "Hey Honey, you got the nevba to juice?" Mabel asked.

Gideon sighed as he unloaded boxes from the bike. "Yes, but Vax came after us again. I had to throw a few grenades into his ship, so he won't be following us for a while."

"After so many failed attempts you'd think he would have given up by now." Pacifica said as she raised the jet bike to the ceiling.

"Out of all the bounty hunters that have gone after us he is the most persistent." Dipper said. "Ixcia prepare for departure."

"Where do you think Vax goes when he's not hunting us?" Mabel asked.

At that moment Vax entered a bar with wanted posters all over the walls most of them with big red X's painted on them. Tables all around were filled with bounty hunters. He walked up to the bartender who was a large woman who was red on the right side of her body and blue on the left and sat down. "Give me a Yabor Ale, wait make it a double."

"Trouble with the Pines family again Vax?" the bartender said as she poured him his drink.

"How you'd know?"

"Hon, there's not a bounty hunter who doesn't know. But don't feel bad, you'll get them next time."

"Which won't be for weeks with the damage they did to my ship! What if someone else gets them before I do?"

"I wouldn't worry about that. Most hunters have given up on getting them. Some say those four are uncatchable, rumor has it that Regent Duradis is going to double, maybe even triple the bounty on them. He might have to sell the Diamond Throne if he does that."

"All that matters is that I get my rep back!"

"Easier said than done Vax." A deep mechanical voice said. The whole bar turned to the door where a man Vax's size stood wearing black armor whose face was covered with an intimidating black helmet with red eyes. He made his way to Vax.

"It's Blackhole Willie!" one person said.

"I heard he took down a whole crew of space pirates by himself!" said another.

"No, it was a whole armada!" a third added.

"Willie it's been a while." Vax growled. "You got something to say?"

"You've been going after these guys for almost a decade! Face it Vax, you're washed up! A has been! Time to retire! Bounty Hunting is a young creature's game! I'll get this bounty and put you out to pasture for good!" Blackhole Willie said poking his finger in Vax's chest.

"You think it's that easy?" Vax pointed to the wall. "I got most of those bounties! I taught you everything you know punk! And as I told you before the first rule of bounty hunting is to never underestimate your quarry! The Pines have evaded every bounty hunter that came after them and the entire Imperium fleet!"

"There is only one reason all of them failed." Willie walked back to the door and turned to face Vax. "They weren't me."

Three days later the Ixcia was halfway through the Klodik Expanse. Things were fine until Dipper saw smoke coming out of the galley. He ran in to find Pacifica putting out the fire. "Sorry! I want to surprise you by making lunch."

"Pacifica you know you can't cook, the closest you ever got was waiting tables at the diner." Dipper kissed his wife's forehead to comfort her.

"I just thought maybe it would be different this time. Guess were having cold cuts now, green cold cuts made from a bug." Pacifica sighed. "Do you think we'll ever have normal food again?"

"Someday my flower, someday."

Then Ixcia shook. "We are under attack by an unknow vessel."

Dipper and Pacifica ran to the bridge with Gideon at the helm and Mabel shooting back at tactical. Outside was a black ship shaped like a spearhead. "Whoever this is their ship is fast! I've only got a few hits!" Mabel said.

"Unidentified ship this is the Ixcia. Why are you attacking us?" Dipper asked as he took navigation while Pacifica sat next to him.

Ixcia switched to display mode showing the helmet of Blackhole Willie. "I've come for the bounty on you."

"A new bounty hunter who thinks he can get rich off us." Gideon said.

"I'm not just anyone. I'm the most feared hunter this side of the galaxy, Blackhole Wille."

"Shields at 56%" Ixcia said.

"Let's just jump out of here!" Pacifica yelled before they were hit with something.

"Null Particle Missile, you're not jumping anytime soon. You're mine." Blackhole Willie closed the channel.

"Does his ship have a weak point?" Dipper asked.

"Scans show that all power is routed through this section of the dorsal side." Ixcia showed a diagram.

"I can make the shot! Giddy get us on top of him!" Mabel said.

"Right!" Gideon preformed an aileron role and Mabel hit the mark.

"Bullseye!" The enemy ship was sparking and came to a halt.

"Ixcia can you fix…" Dipper was asking when the ship shook again.

"A space-time anomaly has opened. We are being pulled in." Ixcia said. In front of both ships was a large, white swirling vortex.

"Guess we know what happened to those ships." Mabel said.

"Jump engines are still offline!" Pacifica yelled.

Gideon pulled back on the controls. "I can't pull out of it!"

"Everyone, hang on!" Dipper ordered and then as both ships were pulled inside the vortex there was a bright light and then everyone blacked out.

Blackhole Wille wasn't fairing much better when they came out. "Damage report!"

His ship's computer spoke. "Systems failing. Core breach is imminent."

"Status of target vessel."

"It has crashed on the planet below. It is intact but it's engines are still offline."

Wille moved to an air lock and got on a hoverboard. He flew out just as his ship exploded in the atmosphere. "I'll have to take their ship back. Watch out Pines, I'm not like Vax. Nothing stops me!" Willie flew to the last detected location near a small seaside town covered in the light of a single pale moon.

Sunlight shined into the bridge. "Is everyone okay?" Dipper asked.

"Mason you're hurt!" Pacifica said holding his face.

Dipper looked at his reflection on the screen. "It's just a bruise." It was on his forehead and covered his birthmark.

"What was that?" Gideon asked.

"It looked like a wormhole." Mabel explained. "For all we know we could be in a whole other dimension. Ixcia do you have any clue to where we are and are you okay?"

Ixcia answered. "My engines still remain inactive. Shields, cloak, and scanners are also offline. The hull is intact, but I am 65% submerged in water. I was able to take some readings before the scanners failed. Dimensional vibration is normal. This is the planet we are currently on." Ixcia shown an image of a very familiar planet and the whole crew began to laugh. "I do not understand, what is so humorous?"

"Ixcia that is Earth!" Pacifica said.

"We're home!" Mabel ran up to Pacifica and the start squealing like schoolgirls over their crushes while jumping up and down.

"Goodbye Imps! So long bounty hunters!" Gideon whooped.

Dipper took Pacifica's hand and began to dance. "No more algae bars for us! From now on its steak, chocolate, and…" Then they heard a light banging on the haul. "We're under attack!

"They must think we're invading aliens!" Gideon said. "Ixcia can we get out and talk to them?"

Ixcia answered. "We are in a small cove with high rock walls; I'll extend the gang plank from the starboard airlock."

Dipper went outside and found that that two boys were throwing rocks at the ship. "Hey mister! This your submarine? It looks so weird, I thought it might be an alien spaceship till you came out." One of them who wore glasses asked.

"It is mine but…"

The other boy interrupted. He looked a lot like the other one "So, you a Russian or something?"

"Mason is everything alright out there?" Pacifica asked.

"It's just a couple of kids!" Dipper said as the others came out.

"Mr. Mason, maybe we're getting off on the wrong foot here." The first boy extended his hand that had six fingers. "I'm Ford."

"And I'm Stan." The other said.

"We're the Pines twins!" they said together leaving the crew of the with their mouths hanging open.

"So, what's your name hot stuff?" Stan flirted looking at Pacifica.

Pacifica was very uncomfortable with this. "Um uh."

"This is …Elise." Dipper said. "My wife."

"Oh, lucky fella." Stan said.

Mabel realized why Dipper used Pacifica's middle name. "I'm Sarah and this is my husband Charlie and we're… secret agents! From…Canada, eh!"

Stan looked skeptical. "What kind of secret agent just says they're a secret agent?"

"Oh, you know us Canadians, we too polite not to fully introduce ourselves."

Stan shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, that makes sense."

"Ah!" Gideon yelled as a possum crawled out of his tank top holding Chugar's pendant in its mouth. He then grabbed the animal. "Give that back you vermin!"

"Leave Shanklin alone you jerk!" Stan yelled kicking Gideon in the shin.

"Why you…!"

"Honey!" Mabel scolded hoping to avoid destroying the space time continuum. "He's just a kid." Mabel then turned to Stan. "Still that pendant is very important, it was given to him by his dead friend."

"Eh, alright. Looks like it's not worth much anyway." Stan said throwing it to Gideon who put it back on.

Dipper knelt and pulled his young great uncles close. "Listen this is important to our mission. The fate of both our countries could be at stake. Does anyone else know we are here?"

"No. The people of this town don't go this far down the beach." Ford answered.

"Good now you must never tell anyone what you saw okay? What we do is dangerous, and I couldn't live with myself if…someone like you got hurt because of it."

"Alright." the twin boys said.

"Come on Sixer, we better get home. Pop will blow his top if were late for lunch." Stan said as the twins ran down the beach.

"I can't believe this!" Pacifica sobbed. "We've come all this way…"

"What is wrong?" Ixcia asked through the scantrix.

"Ixcia those boys are my and Mabel's great uncles! That wormhole threw us to our planet and back in time to the 1960's!" Dipper explained as they walked out to the nearby beach seeing the town.

"I don't know if our grandpa has even been born yet!" Mabel said.

"What do we do now?" Gideon asked. "Hide until after we were abducted? We'll be in our seventies by then!"

"We can't risk changing the past!" Dipper tried to think. "There has got to be a way to get back to our time!"

"I think I can help with that." The group turned to see a bald man standing by a boarded up cave fiddling with a watch, wearing a suit that changed from showing a desert with green sand, a forest with vines that had yellow flowers with blue spots, and the inside of a church before turning to a solid grey.

"Blendin Blandin?" Dipper and Mabel said at the same time.

"Darling is this the time traveler you told us about?" Pacifica asked.

Blendin then looked like he understood something. "Oh, so from your perspective we've met before, they told me that might happen as part of the Time Anomaly Removal Crew. It's best we avoid names for now."

Dipper whispered to Mabel. "It makes sense since he doesn't have the hair that we gave him, this is Blendin from before we met."

Gideon looked hopeful. "So, you can bring us back to the 21st century?"

"That's why I'm here. Once I bring you and all your equipment back the wormhole will be sealed. Just like all the others it pulled in."

Mabel smiled. "Great! All our gear is in our ship!"

"It's intact? What kind of ship is it?" Blendin sound worried.

"Ixcia is a Star Singer mark 3 cargo ship." Dipper explained.

"Oh no! Oh, time dang it!"

"What's wrong?"

Blendin pointed to his time travel tape measure. "I can't transport something that big! I mean could rewire your engine to my time machine, but I would need a big diamond to make it work!"

"Okay, Ixcia grant Blendin temporary crew status so he can begin the work on your engines. The four of us will go into town and find a diamond."

"Okay one crew man helping should be fine, then the five of you can go back to 2023."

"The five of us?" Pacifica asked. "But there are only four members of our crew."

"But two ships fell into the wormhole and one was destroyed."

Gideon looked pale. "Then that means Blackhole Willie is in this time too!"

"We can't leave an alien bounty hunter here!" Mabel said panicked. "What if while looking for us he shoots a hippie and an important scientist is never born!"

"Yeah, every important scientist is named things like Sunshine and Tree." Pacifica said sarcastically.

Dipper had a plan. "Blendin our ship is back there. Get her ready to take us and Wille out of here!"

"R…right!" Blendin left.

"We'll spilt up." Dipper continued. "Pacifica, Gideon you two look for our bounty hunter and keep your interactions with people to a bare minimum. Mabel and I will do the same while we get a diamond."

"Where in this little town do you think you'll find one?" Gideon asked.

"The family business."

A short time later Gideon and Pacifica were walking down a street not caring that some people were staring at them. "Doesn't it feel good to be among other humans again Gideon?" Pacifica said having shaken off the weirdness of being hit on by someone who was both too young and old for her.

"Yes, but it's too bad it's back in the days of the cold war." Gideon said.

"That's not a problem. Once we catch this Blackhole Willie we ask Blendin to take us back to the present but keep us here on earth."

"Then let's hunt the hunter."

What neither of them noticed was that Blackhole Willie was watching them from the rooftops but he only overheard what Gideon just said. "They are trying to get me; this is more interesting than I thought. I need to find a weakness and tip things in my favor. First, I need to find the other two." The bounty hunter leapt from rooftop to rooftop until he saw Dipper and Mabel standing in front of a store marked Pines Pawns. He adjusted controls to see and hear what was about to happen.

"You were right Dipper. Look at the size of that diamond necklace!" Mabel whispered pointing to the necklace with diamond the size of her palm in the store window.

Dipper held the scantrix under his coat. "Ixcia patch me through to Blendin. I'm scanning a diamond is this what he needs?" he whispered over the comm.

"Time jackpot!" Blendin yelled. "Do what you have to get it but don't change anything!" Dipper waited for the ringing in his ears to stop and then opened the door and he and Mabel went inside.

"Hey, it's those two from this morning!" Stan said.

Ford ran up to Dipper. "Mr. Mason!" he then whispered. "How is your mission going?"

"It might be over soon." Dipper said.

"Stanford, Stanly. Why don't you two go outside and play while your father talks business with these people?" Dipper and Mabel never met this woman, but they knew who she was. Caryn Pines their great grandmother and next to her was their great grandfather Filbrick Pines.

"Okay Mom!" The boys said running off.

"Be careful!" Mabel said.

"So, what can I do for you?" Filbrick asked.

"And how do you know our boys?" Caryn added.

"We met them this morning on the beach, delightful scamps!" Mabel said.

Dipper got to the matter at hand. "Yes, and it was surprise to find them here. We were wondering how much for that necklace."

"Let me speak frankly since that's the only way I speak, it's not for sale." Filbrick said crossing his arms.

"They why put it in the window?" Mabel asked.

"Attracts customers like you. So, you going to buy something else?"

"That necklace is the only thing we want, can't you part with it?" Dipper was close to begging.

"I'm holding it for a collector who's going to be here the day after tomorrow. Unless you can beat his offer of five hundred bucks then it stays."

"We'll…see about getting the money. Come on Sarah." When they stepped out of the shop Dipper groaned. "Five hundred dollars? There is no way we can make that kind of money in the sixties in just two days!"

"What do we do?" Mabel asked.

Dipper looked at the pawn shop. "No alarms, no camera, not even bars on the window, Just a lock on the door. With our tech even if he locks it in a safe at night we can get in easy and all anyone would ever know is that it was stolen by a burglar."

"Bro-Bro I know Great Grandpa kicked Grunkle Stan out but you're talking about stealing from family!"

"I don't know if we have a choice Mabel! The longer we stay here the more likely it is we'll change history! But you're right that this is a family matter so we should talk about it with our family. In the meantime, we should join in the search for Willie or a moral dilemma could be the least of our worries."

"There's something else on your mind isn't there?"

"We switched places, Me and Grunkle Ford. When we explored that alien spaceship, he said that 'he wished his mind was where mine was at. When the confirmation of the existence of aliens still had that punch but now it's just meh'. I see them almost every day." Willie didn't hear what Dipper said, he had already left to enact his plan.

Stan and Ford were at the swings on the beach. "What do you think they're doing? Are they looking for Russian spies? Locating a sunken city? Stopping a mad scientist from taking over the world?" Ford asked.

"I don't know but all of those sound like the awesome adventures we're going to have someday!" Stan said.

Adventures? You two? Like you'd ever be anything more than losers!" a large boy with blonde hair said as he and his friends walked up.

"Beat it Crampelter!" Stan said to his bully.

Then Blackhole Willie dropped down from the sky behind Stan and Ford. "You two are coming with me."

"Oh yeah? And why would we do that trash can face?" Stan asked.

From Willie's back a small box popped up and he took aim at a large rock offshore. A mini rocket fired and blew it to pebbles making the bullies run away screaming for their mommies. "Now, come. Don't do anything stupid."

"Stanly! Run!" Ford said but as they turn the same box fired two darts and the boys were knocked out. When they woke up, they were in an old office and tied with rope to a support beam. Out a window to a large interior area Ford could see large swaths of canvas hanging from the ceiling. "This is the old zeppelin factory." He turned his head when his attacker came in through the door. "What do you want with us?"

"You? You're bait, I care nothing for you. But the people I'm hunting seem to care a great deal for having just met you. I can't see why though." Willie looked at Ford's hand while running a genetic scan. "A malformed freak." He then looked Stan in the eye. "Clearly limited intelligence."

"Hey! Call me dumb all you want no one gets to call my bro a freak!" Stan said kicking Willie in the shin.

"Ow! Fine just keeping talking!" Willie touched a few controls on his armor.

"So that's the problem, if we're going to get back to own time the we going to have to steal from mine and Dipper's great grandparents." Mabel explained. The four future Pines spent the whole day looking for Willie and now it was sunset, they met up in a nearby park.

"Mabel I'm sorry but I have to vote with Dipper on this." Gideon said. "Don't we hurt your family more by staying?"

"I agree." Pacifica added. "We don't belong here. We are so close to this long journey being over." Pacifica made a call over the comm. "Blendin would not having that five hundred dollars really change anything with what's going to happen?"

"Hang on," Blendin replied. "I can check." He tapped his watch a few times only to sound a buzzer. "Ugh, the historical super database is down again! Where's Time Tech Support when you need them?"

"So, we're doing it." Dipper said. Then all their communicators made a beeping sound which meant an incoming signal.

"Seeing the tech on this primitive planet only the four of you should be hearing this." Willie said.

"Willie!" Mabel frowned.

"I have some guests here."

"Shut yer yaps' you goon!" they heard Stan say.

"You're not going to get away with this!" Ford said.

"No!" the whole crew said.

"There is an abandoned structure in the western area of this settlement. You have one standard hour to come and face me, or these boys have no future." Willie cut off communications.

"You know it's an ambush." Gideon said as they began to run. "He's probably rigged the whole place with booby traps."

"We don't have a choice!" Dipper yelled. "Even if our great grandparents have our grandpa Sherman after losing their sons; Grunkle Stan was the only reason our parents sent Mabel and me to Gravity Falls instead of some summer camp!"

"We'll have never met or fallen love." Mabel almost cried at the thought.

Dipper continued. "And without Ford you would never have had the second journal Gideon you'd just be…"

"A jerk and fake psychic." Gideon finished.

"And without you two I'd still be a spoiled brat!" Pacifica said. "I'd probably would have been turned to wood and burned by that ghost!"

"And who knows what else could change!" Dipper said. "We got to save them! No matter the cost!"

They got to the factory after night fall and Pacifica looked it over with her visor. "I see them! They're on the upper floor! But something's interfering! I can see electronic signals but they're jumping around the place!"

"The scantrix is being jammed too!" Dipper said.

"There are only a few entrances." Mabel noted. "We'll go in and split up. No matter what happens we got to save Stan and Ford."

They went inside and it was dark with only moonlight obscured by light clouds to help them make anything out. Gideon turned a corner around some machinery. "Time for the game to begin." Willie said as he tapped some controls. Gideon found himself pined to a wall by net and he couldn't aim his weapon.

"Switching to night vison." Pacifica said running to help Gideon.

"See in the dark? I don't think so." Willie keyed in another command.

A bright flash of light shined in Pacifica's face. "My eyes!" She screamed. The next thing she knew some manacles bound her arms and legs knocking her down and making her drop he daggers.

In the office the Pines brothers heard the scream. "Those Canadian agents, they're in trouble!" Ford said.

"That goon's not looking." Stan shook his leg and his pet possum crawled out. "Come on Shanklin, chew these ropes and I get you a whole slice of pie." Shanklin went right to work.

Dipper and Mabel dodged preset lasers. Dipper tried to use his booster to fly to the office but his was hit. "Dipper! You okay?" Mabel asked worried.

"I'm fine it just hit my boosters. But I'm grounded." Dipper showed his sparking boots.

Blackhole Willie stood before them with his rocket launcher aimed at the twins. "I have to admit you two are lasting a lot longer than I thought. No wonder my mentor had such a hard time catching you, and here I thought his age was just catching up with him. But once I have your ship and get the bounty Vax never could I'll be known as the best in the Isoban galaxy!"

"That explains a lot." Mabel grumbled. "We've gone back in time! That bounty doesn't exist yet!"

"Time travel is impossible!"

Dipper tried a different tactic. "If you don't believe us fine, but you know those boys are the same species as us. You're on our home planet in forbidden space! Even if you had a quantum infuser for our ship if you try to collect that bounty then you'll be the one with a price on his head!"

"The Empress will pardon me if I deliver her most hated enemies to her."

Ford and Stan came behind Willie. "Those wires coming from that box look important." Ford whispered.

"The game is over." Willie got ready to fire.

Stan and Ford jumped on his back and pulled the wires causing the launcher to spark. "Wrong! It just went into overtime!" Stan said as they jumped off.

Willie tore his launcher off and threw it before it blew up. He then turned to see Dipper and Mabel were gone. "I had enough of you kids!" Three claws came out of the back of the bounty hunter's gloves. "I'm going to skin you alive!'

The brothers ran with Willie chasing them while from around a corner their older niece and nephew followed. "We got to stop him!" Dipper said.

Mabel had a confident look on her face. "Bro we've been worrying about them so much since they're kids, we've forgotten who they are. We take after them, and like us when they work together, they can do anything!"

Stan and Ford ran through some canvas only for Willie to slice it to pieces. "Get back here you pests!"

The pair ran up some stairs to some shaky scaffolding with an oil drum on it. Ford tried to tip it over. "We got to use this!"

"Got ya Poindexter!" Stan helped and they pushed it down the stairs.

Willie cut the drum in half. "Play time is over kids!" when he got on the scaffolding wobbled under his weight. The Pines brothers grabbed the railing and began to sake it, causing the whole thing to break and collapse making Willie fall. They grabbed a rope suspended from a pully and slid down. When they landed Blackhole Willie's helmet rolled to thier feet.

They saw that Willie was a skinny, black, mouse like alien with lots of warts and dripping fangs. "You are going to pay for that!" he said in his real squeaky voice. The boys began laughing not seeing the Dipper and Mabel circled around behind them to a nearby doorway. "Stop laughing! Willie demanded.

"It all makes sense!" Ford said as he laughed. "The suit, the weapons, the helmet changing your voice. You're hiding how big a sissy you are!"

"You're the grossest thing I ever saw too and saw I Mrs. Henderson throw up from the Ferris Wheel on the boardwalk!" Stan added.

Mabel however still saw how serious this still was. "Dipper we can't blast him, we might hit our grunkles!"

Dipper saw the crumbling brick wall right behind Willie. "Mabel your grappling hook!" he pointed to it, a beam above Stan and Ford, and the wall. Mable understood and fired.

"Nobody laughs at Blackhole Willie! Nobody!" Willie yelled ready to charge not seeing the hook latch on to the wall.

"The bad guys never learn, don't mess with the Mystery Twins!" Mabel said as she pulled.

Dipper pulled too using his gauntlet's increased strength. "Any of them!"

"What the…?" Willie felt the gravel of the wall land on his head before the whole thing came down burying him and a loose brick hit him in the face.

"Grappling hook!" Maple shouted.

"Cool! I want one!" Stan said.

Mabel ruffled his hair. "Someday kid."

"We did it!" Ford pointed to the knocked-out rodent.

Then the boys cheered. "Pines! Pines! Pines!"

"Is everyone all right?" Gideon asked.

"We all fine here." Dipper said. "What about you two?"

"I'll be seeing spots for days, but I'll be fine." Pacifica reported. "I managed to kick one of my knives to…Charlie, once he cut himself free, he picked the locks."

"What is he?" Ford asked pointing to Wille.

"Sorry but that's classified." Dipper said. "I think it would be best if you didn't tell your parents about what you saw under the mask."

Stan just shrugged "I don't think Pop or anybody else would believe us."

"Speaking of which, your parents must be worried sick!" Mabel said.

"Sarah, you and Mason should take them home." Gideon said and then picked up Willie. "Elise and I will handle him."

After Dipper and Mabel left with the boys Pacifica used the comm. "Ixcia send the jet bike to my location."

Stan and Ford came into the pawn shop first. "We're home." Ford said.

"My boys! I was so scared!" Caryn cried as she hugged her sons.

"What kind of monkey business did you two get into this time?!" Filbrick asked angerly. "That Crampelter boy said you were kidnapped by a masked man with explosives! We had to call the cops to form a search party!"

Stan tried to explain. "It's okay Pop, these Canadian agents saved us! Well we saved each other."

"It's true Mr. Pines." Dipper said. "An enemy agent saw we were taking a liking to you sons and he took them hostage to force a confrontation."

"We couldn't let them be hurt because us." Mabel added.

Filbrick stared hard at his great grandchildren. "You put yourselves in danger just to save two boys you only knew for one day?" Filbrick then had the smallest almost unnoticeable smile. "I'm impressed, and I'm not easily impressed. You saved my sons so; I can't believe I'm saying this, but you deserve some kind of reward."

"No, we couldn't…" Dipper tried to say.

"What Mason means is that normally we couldn't, but we need that diamond necklace to complete our mission." Mabel point to the jewel.

Filbrick sighed. "As much as I would like that five hundred bucks, if this can help you keep my family safe from the commies then it's yours."

He handed Dipper the diamond who put it in his pocket. "Thanks."

"Does this mean you leaving?" Ford asked.

Dipper thought about all the hardship and pain that were in these boys' future. "I am afraid so. But listen both of you, you may face hard times ahead, but I know you are going to do great things."

"You really think so?" Stan asked.

"I guarantee it!" Mabel said.

After some hugs and affectionate nogies Dipper and Mabel left "Goodbye!" the brothers said as they walked down the street.

Filbrick then told the boys. "Okay you two go upstairs and wash up. You missed dinner because of this so it's cold."

"Okay Pop!" the twins said as they ran upstairs.

"Filbrick that was the most generous I've seen you in a long time." Caryn said.

Filbrick scratched his head. "I can't really explain it Caryn. I just get this feeling like that guy and gal are, are…"

"I'm not a real psychic but I know what you mean, because I feel it too. They feel like they're part of the family."

As Dipper and Mabel walked down the beach Dipper sniffed. "Dipper, something's on your mind again." Mabel said.

Dipper sniffed again crying. "I can't help it. We've been lost in space for a long time, Grunkle Stan and Grunkle Ford are in their eighties now. They could have passed away already and that could be the last time we ever see them."

"We have to believe they are still waiting for us Dipper." Mabel placed her hand on her brother's shoulder as they got to the airlock. "Come on Bro, TIME to go home."

They went in and Dipper had already wiped away his tears. "Here you go Blendin, is everything ready?" Dipper tossed the necklace to Blendin who almost dropped it.

"Everything and one who shouldn't be in this time is on this ship, that hunter is locked in one of your spare rooms. I just got to plug this in and turn it on and everything will go to a few seconds after the wormhole was sealed in the last location they were historically at." Blendin said.

"Wait!" Pacifica said. "Could you make it so that we go back to 2023 but keep us here on earth?"

"We've been lost in space for ten years." Gideon explained. "It would mean a lot if you can bring us home."

Blendin began to sweat. "I, I, I, I, I, I…I can't! Even if it wasn't against the rules the way this is made is the only way we can get the Ixcia to the future. Anything else won't work!"

"But that means we'll still be stuck in the Isoban galaxy!" Pacifica began to cry.

"It's ok dear." Dipper pulled his wife close. "This adventure brought up a lot of feelings for me but one positive thing about it is that now I'm certain that it's not a matter of IF we get home but WHEN."

"Do it." Pacifica said.

Blendin put the diamond in a stand with the time tape on top with wires going to the engine room. Then he pulled back the tape. "Hang on to your time socks!" In a flash of light, the Ixcia disappeared.

Back at the bar on planet Jergon Vax was having another drink when Blackhole Willie appeared in a flash of light without his helmet above the floor and fell. His ear was also on fire which he quickly patted out. Vax looked amused. "Wait, don't tell me. The crew of the Ixcia weren't as easy to catch as you thought."

Willie got up and sat down next to Vax. "I don't want to talk about it. Just give me a Yabor Ale, make it a double, and ice, lots of ice."

"Yep those Pines can drive any man to drink."

Back on the Ixcia everything was back to what was normal for the Pines. "So Blendin where and when to next?" Mabel asked.

Blendin looked at a hologram from his watch. "I just got a new assignment. 2012, earth, a small town called Gravity Falls. There are a series of time anomalies I need to remove so this is goodbye. Maybe next time we meet I can learn your names." Blendin took his time tape and vanished.

Dipper realized what just happened. "Mabel, Blendin just left to meet you and me for the first time at the mystery fair!"

"Urgh! Time travel, it always gives me a headache!"

Everyone then felt their stomach rumble. "Golly we've so busy saving history none of us have eaten for over a day." Gideon said.

"Oh man!" Dipper slapped his bruised forehead. "Ow! There were two restaurants next to the pawn shop! I could have gotten us some waffles or hoagies!"

"I guess I'm making everyone cold cuts after all." Pacifica moaned.

Five years later,

They finished the story in Stan and Ford's house in Shady Meadows. "All this time we met the four of you before any of you were born!" Stan said dumbfounded.

Ford put the pieces together. "I read your entries in my journal about time travel, but I never thought I was part of any of that. It was very clever that you used your middle names, that combined with the bruise Dipper got and the fact the until you left no one hardly used his real name meant we never made the connection."

"We decided not to talk about what happened just in case we ran into a race with time travel." Dipper said.

"Taking that diamond was actually a very good thing." Ford said, "He was going to invest that five hundred dollars in a buddy's business which went belly up in a month, you saved our family from bankruptcy.

Stan shook his head. "Didn't know what the guy was going sell until the big reveal. What was that guy thinking making beet flavored toothpaste?"

"Oh barf." Mabel said sticking her tongue out.

"One thing I am wondering about is why you sent Gideon back to your ship Sweetie." Stan asked.

The doorbell rang and Mabel smiled. "You're about to find out."

She opened the door and Gideon came in holding something behind his back. "It had about five years' worth of dust, but I got it clean." Gideon then pulled out Willie's helmet.

Pacifica explained. "When he was sent back to wherever he came from this was left behind. It's been in a closet on Ixcia ever since."

"I thought you two would like it as a souvenir." Mabel said.

"A reminder for all of us that the true bonds of family go beyond time and space." Dipper added.

"This is great, and it looks like the circuitry still works!" Ford said. "Don't you think so Stanly?"

"It's perfect! Halloween is just a couple months away. This is just the thing for…" Stan grabbed the helmet and put it on. "…Stan Pines! Master of Fight!" Stan said in the deep voice the helmet made.

"Good old Grunkle Stan." Mabel said as everyone began to laugh.


	14. Creation

Chapter 14

Creation

The Pines vow renewal was in two weeks, so they were holding a rehearsal at the local church. Robbie knelt and talked to his son. He had his father's hair and nose but his mother's skin tone. "Okay R.J. all you got to do is carry this pillow, it will have four rings on it during the wedding. You bring them up there and give them to Mr. Soos, walk to side and sit with me and your mom."

"But what if lose them? And everyone on is going to stare at me…" R.J. was obviously a very shy boy,

"That's why we're practicing, so it won't bother you." Dipper said from the alter, "And you don't have to worry the rings my Grunkle Ford will give them to you just before walk down the aisle."

"You can do this R.J." Tambry said, "You are going to look so cute in that little suit, I'm going to take so many pictures."

"I'll try." R.J. whispered.

After the rehearsal the Ixcia crew watched as R.J. showed Amelia a game on a blue tablet. "I made that possible; Gideon and I can't wait to have one of our own." Mabel said,

"Us too." Pacifica added,

Grenda overheard them. "That reminds me, I better call home, my two-year old son doesn't take his nap unless I am the one who reads him a story."

"Grenda 2: the sequel, right?" Mabel asked,

"Marius sweet talked me out of it, we named him Grendarius. Grenda plus Marius."

Candy was also listening. "I also should video chat with my one-year old daughter Kimi. It's been great working with you Mabel, but I do miss her, even the diaper changes. Grenda and me are glad our families are coming for the wedding."

"I'm sure meeting them will be good practice for when we each finally have a baby." Pacifica said as Candy and Grenda left,

"Are you four having problems in that area?" the four women turned to see Andrew with Dipper and Gideon.

"No, Mr. P…Andrew"

Mabel pointed to the two children. "Like we told Amelia over there we chose not to have kids until we got back to earth, Dad."

Gideon smiled. "And since we've been back, we've been trying in our spare nights, and enjoying it."

"What made you decide to wait?" Andrew asked,

Dipper took in a deep breath, "Dad as you know we all went through hard times out there, on the run and hunted. It wasn't the safest place for a child."

"I guess you used some sort of alien contraceptives."

"Not by choice, didn't know about the stupid things for years." Pacifica grumbled,

"How can you use something like that and not know about it?"

Gideon began to explain. "Andrew, that is a story, the whole thing nearly tore our family half."

Four years ago,

The Pines family sat in the common area watching the show "All my Eggs" on the cosmo-net. "Mother why can't you accept our love?" A salamander like character said,

"Fobber you are an amphibian, Novarina is a mammal, it is not meant to be! I will not be denied grandchildren!" a female of the same race proclaimed,

"Come on Glanba you have fifteen other kids! Let them be happy!" Mabel yelled at the holographic projection,

"The two of you have been married for three years! If you were the same race you would have had children of you own right now!" Glanba screamed,

"They've been married as long as we have. Funny coincidence huh?" Dipper said as he kissed his wife's cheek,

Pacifica's mind however just gone to another place, "Yeah, funny." She said not really paying attention,

A Celestanite character with an eye patch came in, "Dr. Jafni! You have news about Orberlon?" Glanba asked,

Dr. Jafni had a grim loon on his face. "I am afraid that your daughter has…"

"We interrupt this program for an Eyes on the Imperium special report." The Soothsayer replaced the other holograms,

"Boooo!" Mabel said throwing some snacks through the Soothsayer's face,

"Figures they'd interrupt at the important part." Gideon said,

The report continued, "With fresh reinforcements the Imperium fleet have won a deceive victory against the Gondarian Oligarchy. With this and the surrender of the Cotax last month 80% of the Isoban Galaxy is now under the protection of the Grand Cosmic Imperium. Experts say the time of the complete liberation of Isoban is now ahead of schedule and will be complete in two years!"

"Ixcia turn it off!" Dipper ordered, "We're running out of places to go!"

The display tuned off. "We'll find a safe harbor Dipper, we always do." Mabel said,

"But now jobs will be harder to come by! Potential clients won't want to hire fugitives from the Imperium if they think the Imps could be at their door tomorrow!"

Gideon had an idea. "Once we complete this cargo run, we can transport supplies for anyone who's still fighting! That can give us some protection."

"I guess it's the best we can do for now." Dipper sighed,

Meanwhile on Celestio Regent Duradis was finishing his daily meeting with Empress Stellara, he had grown a grey goatee. "With the conquest of this galaxy so close we should consider where to open a new front. I was thinking we could be bolder than in the past and extend operations to multiple galaxies. With the resources and troops that we can gain we might finally have an advantage over both the Fanmarx Order and the Trans-Galatic Confederacy!"

"You're getting ahead yourself Duradis." Stellara said from the diamond throne with Buckgis standing next to her, she was now thirteen years old and had grown quite a lot. Stellara now wore a white shirt with gold trim, with matching blazer, pants, boots, and a gold cape. "Even if everything goes according to these projections, I still wouldn't be able to open a new front for two years."

"Still it's best to look to the future."

"Have we caught the Pines yet?" Stellara asked,

"Not yet but they can't run forever."

Stellara stood up. "How is it that after seven years we have nearly conquered this whole galaxy and yet the heretics who tried to kill me, my mother's murderers still remain at large?!" she shouted,

"Your holiness, you needn't dwell on them. I'll handle everything."

"Stop treating me like a child! What is being done about this?!"

Duradis internally groaned, Stellara was becoming more rebellious and harder for him to control. _"First she dyed her hair black so she could sneak off with Buckgis to that Rangar Ravenstar concert because she wants to know what it's like to be a normal girl and because she thinks he's cute. Now she questions my every decision and refuses to listen to me! This teenage attitude just one of the reasons I never had children! However as loath as am to admit it she is right, as long the humans are alive my plans are at risk."_ Duradis thought. "I was going to save this as a surprise, but I may as well tell you now. I have arranged a trap for the humans." Making a gesture a holographic screen was turned on and the image of Captain Kondar appeared. "Captain Kondar is one of our greatest strategists."

"Your Grace, it is my greatest honor to speak to you." Kondar said bowing,

Stellara was not impressed. "I've read the reports, you lost to the Pines twice before."

Kondar tried to reassure his young leader, "Those were unexpected encounters my empress, this time with my extensive knowledge of tactics and Imperium military history there is no way they can escape me. Consider, they are running out of places to hide and will soon be desperate for quan. Now through our intelligence agents I have arranged to hire Odysseus Enterprises to make a cargo delivery to the Naxro system. I will be waiting for them there in the Hand of Suprema along with the destroyer Spear of the Stars and twelve cruisers. I have learned from our past encounters, as soon as they enter the system, we'll target their jump engines and flood the area with theta particles making their cloak useless, they won't able to run or hide. They have a durable ship, but it will not stand up to the combined firepower of sixteen warships. We'll fire at them until they are destroyed, no offers of surrender, no mercy! This time they will meet their end by the ship named for your great grandmother and pay for their crimes and the humiliation they brought upon our greet nation!"

"It is a good plan…" Stellara admitted. "…but are you sure you have enough ships? I want to be absolutely sure this will work."

"Kondar has more than enough, anymore and we deplete from vital warfronts." Duradis said,

"Very well, I wish you a swift victory captain."

"Empress." Kondar bowed again and ended the transmission,

"Soon you be avenged mother." Stellara whispered,

The next day the Ixcia had landed on a planet to deliver their cargo. While the Pines twins were out to receive payment Gideon and Pacifica spared in the cargo bay. Gideon had Pacifica in a headlock, but she jumped breaking out of it and did a sweep kick knocking Gideon to the floor. "Good move." Gideon said getting up,

Pacifica however needed to talk about what she realized last night, "Gideon can I ask you something personal? Normally this something I'd talk to Mabel about but I'm not sure if I can wait."

"We're family, go ahead." Gideon took a drink of water.

"How often do you and Mabel, …do it?"

Gideon coughed on his drink and said, "You weren't kidding when you said it was personal."

"I really need a comparison, I worried something might be wrong with me or Mason."

"Okay but don't tell Mabel I told you this but with the exception of the Cotax run I'd say we get close around three times a week."

"That's about the same for us. Do either you use any sort of protection?"

"Un no, we never did, do you two?"

"No and that's the thing I'm worried about. The four of us have been married for three years and having sex three nights a week with no birth control of any kind! How come neither me nor Mabel have gotten pregnant?" Pacifica was beginning to sound panicked,

"I, I never really thought about it before. Is it me? Please, not Mabel, no."

"Hey guys great news!" Mabel said as she and Dipper returned,

"We lined up two jobs at once. In an hour we'll pick up a delivery of computer components half of them we'll drop off at station 783 the rest we'll pass to a ship in the Naxro system." Dipper explained,

"The whole thing should be less than a week. Two days to the station, three days to the system." Mabel then noticed the worried looks on Gideon and Pacifica's faces, "What's wrong?"

"Mabel we might have a problem." Gideon said, his voice shaking,

"Us too Mason, last night I realized that we should have had a baby by now! Gideon and Mabel too!"

"A baby?" Dipper's legs felt like wet noodles,

Mabel felt much the same. "Me, a mom?"

"Guys, what if we can never children?" Pacifica was on the verge of tears,

"Paz, we don't know anything! Remember our upcoming physicals Ixcia gives us every three months? Let's take it early and we'll see if there is anything wrong."

And that is what they did. After they loaded their cargo, they went to Ixcia's sick bay. "All scans complete." Ixcia said,

"Well what's the verdict?" Gideon asked,

"There is nothing biological keeping any of you from conceiving."

"Well that's a big relief." Mabel said.

"Then we just have to be patient." Pacifica took Dipper's hand.

"That is not correct Pacifica, as I stated there is nothing biological preventing conception." Ixcia display images of her scans,

"If there's nothing wrong then why haven't we had any children? You're saying it's something else?" Dipper asked,

"You all have nanotechnology inside your bodies designed to prevent conception. I first detected these nanites eleven years ago when Dipper and Mabel came aboard. It is often a practice of slave owners to use this kind of technology. Your translator implants were likely suspended in a solution of these nanites."

"From day one! I should have broken that pirate's arms!" Pacifica yelled,

"Ixcia why didn't you tell us before? You have a bad habit of not saying everything." Mabel said,

"I apologize, the nanites are not harmful and none of you expressed an interest in being parents before so my directive to look after your wellbeing did not apply until now."

"So, these things mean we can never have kids? Ever?" Gideon asked,

"No Gideon, scans show that that the nanites can be turned off with a simple electromagnetic frequency, after twenty-four standard hours you own immune system would eliminate them and you can conceive normally. Most likely this is in their design so that a slave's owner could bred more servants if they wish."

Pacifica stepped right up to Ixica's avatar, "Well what are we waiting for? Shut these little bugs down!"

"Wait a minute, Paz let's think about this!" Dipper said,

"What is there to think about?"

"We are wanted criminals in most of the galaxy and our kids would also be considered criminals from the day they are born! We're attacked by bounty hunters and space pirates at least once a week! Isoban isn't the safest playground! All I'm saying is that we wait until we get back to earth. If we do then these nanites might be a good thing, we can still enjoy each other without…"

Pacifica interrupted her husband, "You just don't want the responsibility! We can keep our kids safe!"

"Pacifica's right, about keeping them safe I mean." Gideon said, "We've handled everything so far."

Mabel had other ideas, "I agree with Dipper. We're not saying we should never have kids, just that it will be better for them if we wait until we get home."

"And how long will we have to wait? Another five, ten, forty years?" Pacifica asked, "Mabel we're on the biological clock! If we do it your way, then by the time we do get home we maybe too old to have kids! Ixcia turn them…"

"Don't do it Ixcia! That's an order!" Dipper said,

Ixcia obeyed, "Confirmed. I am sorry Pacifica, but my primary directive is to obey the orders of the captain."

"Mason, how could you!?" Pacifica said hurt,

"This isn't fair Dipper!" Gideon was angry, "Mabel you're co-captain! Can't you do something?"

"Gideon, that only works to stop Ixcia from doing something. Besides I told you I agree with my brother, the order stands." Mabel explained,

"Arrrrgh!" Pacifica ran out of the room.

"Pacifica, wait!" Dipper followed his wife to her old room. "Can't we just talk about…" Pacifica's dagger whizzed by Dipper's left ear hitting the door to Gideon's old room before it flew back. "…We'll talk later."

"Can you blame her?" Gideon asked,

Mabel was confused, "Gideon, you didn't care about having kids until you thought that we couldn't! Why are you so upset?"

"The two of you are using your position as captain to take the choice away from us and have things your way!" Gideon yelled. "Pacifica and I looked to the you two as examples of being better than we were, but now you both have really disappointed us! Goodnight captains!" he went into his old room and sealed the door.

The twins hung their heads. "Wait a minute, Gideon it's the middle of the afternoon!" Mabel said,

On the Hand of Suprema Kondar received a report, "Excellent! They have taken the bait." He pointed to nowhere in particular and began shouting orders "Begin battle drills! I want every ship, every officer to know the plan by heart! I will leave nothing to chance this time! Operation Fallen Star is a go!"

"Sir! Yes sir!" his crew said as they began to run simulations, and relayed orders,

"I have tried to be a gentleman, but these humans take advantage of that twice! I will not fail a third time!"

Two days later and the twins' spouses had barely spoke to them. After unloading half of their cargo Dipper and Mabel decided to go to a bar on station 783 while the ship refueled. When they entered, they found three depressed aliens drinking together at a table. One had a purple carapace and three horns that looked like a mohawk, the second looked like a big green moth that wrapped his wings around his body, the last one they could almost be mistake for Darnak if not for the fact he like the other two wore a military uniform. "Two Star Blasters please." Dipper asked the bartending robot. It wordlessly made the drinks and handed them to the twins.

"Let me guess, the Imperium is about to overrun your forces and take your planet too huh?" The first alien asked, "Wolvri, Captain of the Toruk Hierarchy Star Forces."

"Actually, we haven't thought about the Imps in a couple of days, marriage problems." Mabel said,

"Wait, I recognize you two, you got that enormous bounty. The Pines, right?"

"We don't want any trouble." Dipper said getting his gauntlet ready,

"No worries! Any enemy of the Imperium is welcome to a drink us. Besides your crew has become something of a legend among those fighting against the Imps." The third said pulling out a chair. "Tarnor, Captain of the Brido Republic Defense Fleet."

The second one pulled another chair. "Flarnap Captain of the Whisder Royal Navy and fourteenth in line for the throne."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Dipper and this my sister Mabel. I got to say I normally don't go to bars, but my wife doesn't drink and she's beyond mad at me right now."

"So, what is she so mad about that the Imps seem trivial by comparison?" Wolvri asked, "Because I really need to see how it could get worse."

"We abused our authority as ships co-captains to try to solve a personal problem." Dipper explained,

"We did what we thought was the right thing, for the right reasons, but did it the wrong way. Now my husband won't speak to me." Mabel added,

"Ouch, that does sound bad." Flarnap said,

"Long before we were all abducted Pacifica and Gideon couldn't stand us and us them. One boneheaded mistake and we practically hit a reset button on our relationships." Dipper said as he took a swig from his glass. "So much for pulling together like the Allies in World War 2."

"I never heard of that conflict. What species fought in it?" Tarnor asked,

Mabel chuckled, "Just ours. It was a war on our planet a long time ago."

Dipper explained, "One man raised an army to try to take over the world. He was succeeding until several nations decided to work together and formed a coalition to stop him."

Flarnap looked confused. "Different nations worked together? How? In the history of this galaxy it's always been that a nation be it of a continent or a planet would always protect its own, grow to overpower it enemies. The closest thing like you're talking about would be trade agreements or non-aggression pacts."

"Well they shared supplies and information, coordinated attacks. Mostly they compromised how to divide the work." Mabel tried to explain. "Compromise…"

"I know what you're thinking Mabel." Dipper said, "Guys thanks for the company but we need to get back to our ship and fix things with our family."

"I just hope that they'll listen."

After that Wolvri talked to the other captains. "My peoples' fleet have a lot of fire power, but we just never know when the Imps will attack."

"My race has an extensive intelligence network that can help with that, the only problem is the Imperium have cut off our supply lines and we're facing a food shortage." Flarnap said,

Tarnor joined in, "The Republic has a lot of transport ships and an excess of food and medicine, but we have been out gunned. Wolvri if your people provide escorts…"

"I have a lot of friends in the upper levels of the Hierarchy, I can get those escorts." Wolvri replied. "Flarnap can you convince your people to help?"

"I'm the Queen's favorite nephew, she'll listen to me." Flarnap said,

Tarnor jumped in. "And my father is an influential senator on the defense committee. So, we're really doing this? Forming our own coalition?"

"It maybe our only hope." Wolvri said, "I came here to drown my sorrows but right now I propose we drink a toast to the birth of our coalition to keep our worlds free!"

"I'll drink to that." Flarnap raised his glass,

It took Dipper and Mabel two days of begging and pleading just to get Gideon and Pacifica to talk to them in the common area. "Alright we're listening." Pacifica said,

"First off we are both extremely sorry that we forced our wishes on you two." Dipper apologized.

Mabel continued, "While we still think we all should still wait, we want to talk and ask how long you think we should. We want to come to a compromise."

"Well that is better but mostly I just want to ask you something Mable." Gideon said, "I thought you would be eager to have kids, but I also know you look at yourself as the eternal child. Are you so afraid of being that much of a grown up?"

"No, that's not it at all. I do want kids but if we start a family here then it feels like we are surrendering. 'Okay Isoban you win! We're settling here and we'll never get home!' I just don't want us to lose that hope."

"Mabel, I know you want to keep us moving toward home but maybe having kids may make us just that more determined to get back, make us work harder."

"And what about you Mason? Why don't you want kids?" Pacifica asked,

"I never said I didn't want them, I do! It's just…I don't want you to get hurt. After everything the felggur did to you, you had so much pain and guilt that I swore to myself that you wouldn't be hurt like that again. With you so eager and the news of how close the Imps were to having this whole galaxy in my mind I saw you crying your heart out holding a small dead child. But in trying to keep pain away from you instead I inflicted it." Dipper put his head in his hands.

"But Dipper the felggur are one of the reasons I really want a baby!" Pacifica said, "I caused so much death, I want to make up for the innocent lives I took by bring one or more into the universe that will be good and I want to start before I get too old to be a good mother."

"What do you mean too old to be a good mother?" Mabel asked,

"You all know that my parents had a hard time having me so they're older than most of our generations parents. Well, it's a family trend too, I think my dad was as bad as he was in part because my grandfather Auldman Northwest was sixty when he was born."

Dipper was shocked, "Sixty!? That's… I mean Grandus was over a hundred and had a kid but that's still pretty up there."

"He was as bad as the other Northwests, but he got meaner and meaner with age. Dad told me about the one-time grandpa gave in and took him to the park, Grandpa fed the pigeons gravel while he watched the other boys play ball with their dads. I don't want to put my child through that, I will not let myself be the only good thing to come from the Northwest bloodline!" Pacifica cried angry tears.

Dipper hugged his wife and kissed her forehead. "Pacifica, you're not like that. Our children will have a mother who loves them with all her heart; and sixty is a long way off for us. So, let's talk and come to a decision on when to turn these nanites off."

Ixcia's avatar appeared. "I am sorry to interrupt but we are about to arrive in the Naxro system."

"We better get ready for the cargo transfer, but we'll get back to this discussion afterward." Gideon said,

They went to the bridge Dipper took the helm, Mabel navigation, Gideon engineering, and Pacifica tactical. "Cargo ship Raxfar this is the Ixcia please respond." Mabel said over the comm,

Kondar listened to the signal, "The time has come! Begin Operation Fallen Star!"

Out from behind the moons of a nearby gas giant the Imperium ship flew out and began to fire and surround Ixica. "Ambush!" Dipper yelled as he began evasive maneuvers,

"Jump engines have taken heavy damage!" Gideon reported as sparks flew all over the ship.

"Enemy fleet consists of twelve Imperium cruisers and two destroyers." Ixcia displayed the position of the ships.

"There are too many! I can't shoot them all down! Engaging cloak!" Pacifica began to turn it on.

"Don't bother!" Mabel said, "I'm reading high levels of theta particles, the cloak's useless!"

"Shields at 46% and falling. Tri-laser cannons offline." Ixcia reported,

"There has to be a hole we can fly out of this!" Dipper yelled. A large hit and Pacifica was sent flying out of her seat. "Paz speak to me!" Dipper said scared.

Pacifica lifted her head up. "We're not getting out of this one, are we?"

"Shields have failed. Hull integrity at 66%. Sub-light engines offline." Ixcia said,

Gideon got up for the door. "I got to get back there and fix…" He found the door jammed.

"Hull integrity at 15%." Ixcia said as the shooting stopped,

"What are they waiting for?" Mabel asked, "One more shot from one of those space donuts and we're goners!"

Kondar appeared on Ixcia's display mode which had a lot of static. "I wanted you four to see who it was that finally defeated you. No last-minute plans or legendary monsters to save you this time!" He turned to his crew. "Target their bridge!"

"You're just going to shoot us? No offer of surrender, no speeches on Imperium superiority? That's not like you Kondar." Dipper said,

"I am leaving nothing to chance this time! Fire on my command!"

Gideon and Mabel embrace preparing for the end. Pacifica got up and wrapped her arms around her husband who had no idea how to get out of this trap. Kondar raised his hand as he was about to give the order. "Sir! Ten Toruk Battleships have entered they system and are on a direct course for us!" One of the crew said as an alarm went off. The Toruk ships were long and grey with building like protrusions and large gun barrels, they began firing on the Imperium fleet.

"The Toruk wish to fight us?" Kondar said forgetting the Ixcia crew were listening, "No matter! I know their ships and tactics well! Use jamming frequency four! They will not be able to lock onto us."

Another alarm and several ships that looked like blue tilted cocoons appeared and joined the assault. "Sir Now I'm detecting ten Whisder warships on an intercept course! What these readings? The Toruk are linking their targeting systems to the Whisder sensors!"

"What? Flank them! Whisder shields are weakest on the aft section!"

A third alarm as smaller tan horseshoe shaped ships jumped in and fired on the circling cruisers. "Sir! Fifteen Brido corvettes have taken position behind the Whisder!"

"Brido ships can't target more than eight objects at a time! Fire Cluster Torpedoes!" The Imp ships fired weapons that split into multiple objects.

"No effect! The Toruk's point defense systems are shooting them down!"

"This can't be! They're covering each other weaknesses! Countering my every stratagem!" Kondar shook his head, "Forget them! Destroying the Ixcia is all that matters!"

"We can't sir! The enemy fleets have extended their shields around them!"

A different officer had another report, "We just lost half our ships!

"They're helping us?" Dipper asked,

Then the screens on both sides were divided as another transmission came in. "I am captain Wovri and we are the Coalition of Free Worlds!" Behind him was a green banner with the Isoban galaxy on it.

"One of the guys at the bar?" Mable asked,

"Don't worry Ixcia, the Whisder intelligence network told us of this little trap and we thought it was a good way to make our big introduction! We couldn't let the Imps get you, this whole thing was your idea in a way."

"You did this?!" Kondar sputtered. "In a bar? You inspired an unprecedented strategy?"

"We just gave them a little history lesson from our planet!" Dipper said,

"Impossible!" Kondar screamed as he tore out the last of his hair,

"Sir, we just lost the Spear of the Stars! We are the only ship left! Escape pods have been deployed from the other ships." One of Kondar's junior officers said, "Sir what are your orders?"

"We're giving you this one chance to leave." Wolvri said, "I suggest you take it and tell Duradis something for me. Tell him 'to get your Imps out of OUR galaxy!'"

Kondar growled, "Engage Hyper Jump! Retreat! Retreat!" The badly damaged Hand of Suprema jumped out and the battle ended.

Later Ixcia was docked in the lead Turok battleship and was being repaired while the Pines family talked to Wolvri, Flarnap, and Tarnor. "You guys saved us, but why? Because you owe Mason and Mabel?" Pacifica asked,

Flarnap explained, "Like we told them before you four have become legends! You really didn't know?"

"The stories on how you keep outwitting the Imps, your journey to get home, it gives our peoples hope and we couldn't let that die. I heard my own men talk about how you were they only thing keeping them from giving up." Tarnor said,

Wolvri then said, "This operation proved to our leaders that this could work. We transmitted the whole battle on the cosmo-net. Not only do we have our governments support, but other worlds are asking to join the fight! This may mark a turning point in this war. You four helped give birth to the Coalition of Free Worlds." That sentence reminded the family that they would need to talk later after the repairs were done.

The next day at the Imperial Palace, Kondar transmitted the report on the failure of Operation Fallen Star and the Coalition of Free Worlds. "The tactics that normally ensured victory on these kinds of ships were negated by the others. Because of this we lost fourteen ships including the Spear of the Stars which has become the first imperial destroyer to fall in battle in two hundred years. It is estimated this Coalition has taken over a thousand prisoners of war. I have failed you your Grace."

"I have just one more question captain Kondar." Stellara said on the throne, "What happened to your hair?" she asked causing Kondar to rub his bald head and cry, "Never mind. This wasn't your fault Kondar."

"Thank you, my Empress." Kondar sniffed,

"No, if anyone is to blame it's you Duradis!" Stellara shouted to the regent.

"I beg your pardon your majesty!?" Duradis was shocked at this accusation,

"You said he had enough ships, but the fleet was outnumbered!"

Duradis walked up to Stellara and stood over her. "There was no way to know that the humans could rally different races together!"

Buckgis pulled out his elec-warhammer and stuck it between the two. "Remember your place Duradis." He said,

Stellara stood up and walked to the holo-display. "Excuse me captain but I need this, that will be all." She turned the display to a map of the Isoban galaxy with it colored of showing who had what territory with the Imperium in yellow. "Duradis you allowed the Pines to do something no one has ever done before. They have united our enemies against us! Already more worlds are joining this…Coalition. It is inciting rebellion on worlds we have held for years!" She changed all space that wasn't theirs green. "Instead of facing separate enemies on multiple fronts we are facing the same enemy on all sides. There is a word for that Duradis, surrounded!"

"Your Grace this Coalition is still made of worlds in just this galaxy, it is hardly a threat." Duradis said,

"The way they work together could get them support from the Trans-Galactic Confederacy since they have similar views! The Fanmarx Order could see this as sign of weakness and renew hostilities! The careful balance of power between the three largest nations in the known universe may have forever been altered because you in your incompetence can't destroy one little cargo ship with four primitive criminals on board!"

"But your highness…"

"Get out of my sight!"

"If I may only…"

"Get out! Get out! Get ouuuuuuuut!" Stellara screamed,

"As you wish." Duradis went to his office and locked the door. "This situation is becoming intolerable! She will never listen to me now!" Duradis looked out to the garden, to the spot where his assassination attempt was thwarted. "The Pines, for people I've only seen from a distance they have an annoying tendency of getting in the way of my plans! I must find a way to eliminate them and Stellara once and for all!"

The next day the repairs were complete and the Ixcia was flying under her own power again with the crew in the same stations they were in the day before yesterday. "Remember if you ever need our help then just use the frequency, we've shown you, and you can count on us for transport jobs." Wolvri said,

"Thanks." Dipper said with a nod,

"Ixcia I'm setting a course for the Qoan system. Pacifica found us a buyer for those other components there." Mabel said,

Ixcia's eye grew and shrank. "Hyper jump in 5…4…3…2…1."

"So, before the shooting started, we were talking about when we should start trying to have a baby." Dipper got out of the helm,

Pacifica held up her hand. "Actually, Gideon and I talked about it and decided you two were right. We should wait until we get back to earth."

"We almost died, if those ships arrived just a few seconds later…" Gideon shivered at the thought,

Pacifica sighed, "Even if we get out of this galaxy, we'll be facing unknown dangers until we get back home. I was so upset with everything I forgot the most important thing is what would be best for my child."

"Still, we shouldn't just close the door on the whole thing." Mable said, "You guys were right that we could still be out here a long time and Ixcia wouldn't be that bad a place to raise kids."

Dipper held Pacifica's hand, "Mabel and I were talking, and we thought maybe a good compromise could be we wait five years. We'd be around thirty, not too old do you think?"

Pacifica smiled, "Five years or when we get back to earth. Whichever comes first."

Gideon wrapped his arm around Mabel shoulder. "That sounds like a good compromise. But given our luck it will probably be the former."

Four years later,

"We beat that number by a year." Mabel said,

"That must have been painful for you all." Andrew looked at his children,

"The import thing is we're here and we already turned off the nanites and it's only a matter of time until someone is calling you grandpa." Dipper laughed,

"Well you mother will certainly be happy." Andrew chuckled,

Pacifica looked at Amelia and R.J. "Still with the Imperium coming even if things go as planned, we'll still be placing a big responsibility ours and every other child's shoulders when they grow up to continue what we started."

"Pacifica, some people would call that a legacy."

Later that evening the Pines family went back to the Ixcia, the outer frame of their house was about three quarters done. "Agent Stone would you mind staying in the cargo bay until midnight? We want some alone time." Gideon asked the agent on guard.

"Of course."

Ixcia greeted them on the upper decks, "How was the rehearsal?"

Mabel smiled, "It was fine Ixcia but are you sure you just want to see the wedding through the scantrix? Ford still has our flashlight shrink ray; you could be there in person."

Ixcia's avatar tilted back. "I do not find the prospect of shirking…appealing. I also must remind you it is time for your quarterly medical scans."

"With everything going on I forgot reschedule that." Dipper said,

"We may as well get over with." Pacifica began moving to sick bay.

A few minutes later green beam stopped washing of the family. "Scans complete. Dipper, Gideon you are both in excellent health." Ixcia said,

"Alright." The two said fist bumping.

"Mabel your blood sugar levels are slightly elevated."

"Hey, I didn't have candy for fifteen years! Can you blame me for indulging?" Mabel asked,

"Also, you and Pacifica have been pregnant for approximately two weeks."

"What!?" They all said.

"We're finally having a baby." Pacifica cried tears of joy,

"We were just talking about…and now." Dipper stuttered,

"You're going to be a daddy Gideon; I'm going to be a mommy!" Mabel cheered.

"A little prince or princess to go with my Queen." Gideon kissed his wife's cheek.

Ixcia continued, "Congratulations, it is too early to determine their sexes however…"

"Ixcia unless it is something about the babies' health, I think we all want to be surprised." Pacifica said,

Mabel nodded in agreement, "We should tell everybody!"

Dipper had other ideas, "Wait, the wedding is two weeks, you shouldn't be showing any outward signs by then. What if we surprise everyone all at once at the reception?"

"That sounds wonderful Mason." Pacifica said,

"That would be perfect but I'm not sure if I can keep this to myself for two more weeks!" Mabel squealed,

"You can do it Mabel, just picture everyone's happy faces at the big moment." Gideon reassured his wife.

Pacifica looked down at her stomach hiding the new life inside. "Hello baby, we love you."

Mabel did the same. "We can't wait to see you, hold you, kiss you."

Dipper hugged his wife and looked at her belly, "We've been waiting so long, there is so much we want to show you."

"We won't allow anything to happen to you, we are working hard to make your home a safe place for you." Gideon said,

Pacifica faced her family. "It feels like we are finally getting our happily ever after." What none of them could see was that in the engine room under the quantum infuser that brought them home, a tiny dim red light blinked.


	15. Wobon Woes

Chapter 15

Wobon Woes

It was early in the afternoon at Lake Gravity Falls and Dipper, Mabel, and Stan were out on a boat. "It's nice that you two decided to come out here with me and fish but don't you have a lot of important stuff to do?" Stan asked,

"We have done a lot lately and between all the travel, working with all the space agencies, and preparing for the wedding we haven't had time to just hang out one on with our grunkle." Dipper said,

"We only had the one fishing trip when we were kids and with you getting older and with us about be really busy soon…" Stan didn't notice Mabel subconsciously place her hand on her stomach. "…we want to make sure that we make the time we have with you count."

"You kids don't have to worry; I'm not planning on going anytime soon." Stan said tossing his line back into the lake.

Dipper sighed, "It's just that you mean a lot to us, everything you taught us helped us live long enough to get back home, especially the times we were in prison."

"The last one was more brutal than the other two were and our attorney wasn't helpful at all." Mabel huffed while she dipped her hand in the water, "That place wasn't like here at all, nothing but heat and sand on the surface."

"Sounds like a story with more adventure and lawyer punching, perfect way to pass the time while we wait for the fish to bite." Stan said,

Dipper looked up to the sky. "For me it all started with a nightmare."

Three years ago,

Dipper found himself walking down the streets of Piedmont at night and the people were staring at him, afraid. "Wait!" he called as some kids ran away from him.

Dipper chased after them but as they turned a corner, he felt someone's hand on his shoulder. He turned and saw Emperor Grandus standing there. "You don't belong here anymore heretic."

"No!" Dipper pulled away and made the turn to a street with shops and advertisements, but all the signs were in a jumble of unfamiliar letters.

"Be it ever so humble there's no place like home, right boy?" Darnack asked while drinking a Pitt cola,

Dipper saw his parents and uncles standing to the side looking shocked, scared, and even disgusted. "What's wrong? It's me! It's Dipper!" but T.V.'s from a nearby electronics store played what he just said as a garbled unfamiliar language. Ford pulled out his gun and Stan cracked his knuckles. "I don't understand!"

"You and your family have been gone too long Dipper!" Crix said from a window, "Now the four of you are more alien than human! Did you think you could just come back?" Dipper then saw Pacifica, Mabel, and Gideon walk up but alien body parts began growing out of them.

"No! This is home!" Dipper then felt a pain in his arm as a long spike grew out of it followed by tentacles coming out of his back. Ford took aim and Dipper tried to plead with his uncle all that came out of his mouth was an unintelligible mess. Dipper woke up screaming, as he felt his arm and checked his back.

Of course, this woke up Pacifica and Ixcia turned the lights on. "Mason, Mason it was just a nightmare, whatever it was you're safe here with me." She wrapped her arms around him. "You want to talk about it?"

"I, I don't remember what is was about. I'm sorry I woke you." Dipper calmed down trying to put the whole thing behind him.

"There's nothing to be sorry about. Just lay back down, I'll be right here as you go back to sleep."

Dipper laid down. "Thanks Paz."

"It's nothing." Pacifica looked up to the ceiling. "Ixcia lights off please. Oh, and Mason, I hope you had a happy birthday." Dipper lay awake, he did just have his birthday and that was the problem.

The next day the Ixcia crew went about their normal routines when Mabel pulled up the Odysseus Enterprises website. "We got a new job and they clicked Grunkle Stan." What Mabel was referring to was that they used a cartoon Stan that said, "Ask me about extra deliveries" as a way for people to ask them to smuggle something.

"Who's the customer and what does he want us to deliver?" Gideon asked,

"His name is Torgus, and it says here the cargo is about three hover tractors. He did agree to our usual terms of talking about it the rest in person. We're to meet him on planet Ferndul just five hours from here."

"We'll set a course."

It was a short time later that Pines family were face to face with a man brown skin and tusks growing out of his mouth. Pacifica did her breathing exercise. "Something wrong Paz?" Dipper asked,

"In my final trial in the felggur I killed one his kind, my first victim." She said,

Dipper took her hand. "It's okay."

Torgus then spoke. "As I said when I sent in the request I need you to ship three hover tractors to Woban 5, I also would like you to make a delivery that I am willing to pay a great deal for."

"And what is this additional cargo?" Dipper asked,

"The Wobon government is a tyrannical dictatorship!" Forgus shouted but then calmed himself down. "Sorry, as I was saying I have friends on Wobon 5 who are expecting a shipment of explosives for an operation in a few days. I already have an idea on how you can get them by the inspectors…"

"We going to have to stop you right there." Mabel said,

"What?"

"Friend, we had to smuggle a lot of stuff over the years but there are two things we don't touch because if we're caught with them it would big trouble for us." Gideon held up two of his fingers, "First is narcotics, nasty stuff we want nothing to do with. Second are weapons, so we can't take this additional job."

"But you ship weapons for the Coalition of Free Worlds!" Torgus protested,

"Those are open shipments, smuggling weapons just has too harsh a penalty if we're caught." Dipper said, "We'll still deliver the tractors, but we won't smuggle your explosives."

Torgus growled, "Fine, bring them here!" He motioned another Woboian in a hover load lifter pushing a large maroon crate with two more just like it.

"Would you open the crates before they're loaded onto Ixcia?" Mabel asked, "We had a bad experience years ago and we've been running scans on our cargo ever since."

Torgus paused, "Very well." He walked over and opened the crates showing the large green vehicles.

Dipper took out his scantrix and gone over each one. "Nothing inside them, okay let's load them up."

"We'll be in the Woban system by tomorrow." Pacifica said,

As soon as the cargo was loaded and everyone was inside Torgus said, "You could have been paid well to help us, but at least your scans show this could work. You will deliver those explosives whether you want to or not."

Dipper awoke in the middle of the night, this time he didn't scream and just watched his wife sleep. _"Another nightmare, I hoped it was just a onetime thing. Okay talk to them after the job is over tomorrow."_ Dipper thought as he tried to go back to sleep.

They landed on a planet with many fields of Botran wheat. They opened the door and a dozen Wobonian officers were there with scanning equipment. "We're here to inspect your cargo." One of them said,

Dipper smiled, "You'll find nothing wrong here I scanned the cargo myself."

The female commanding officer said, "We'll see about that. Scan the whole ship, we got a tip somebody is smuggling explosives for an assassination attempt on warlord Borex." They scanned all over Ixcia and it seemed like they would find nothing until they scanned the crates themselves.

"Comander! These crates, they're the explosives! There's enough here to blowup half the capital!" a young male officer said.

"What?!" the Ixcia crew asked shocked as guns were drawn on them,

"It can't be!" Dipper said, "Mabel and I learned our lesson eleven years ago! This can't be happening again!"

"Torgus! He said he had a plan for smuggling in explosives and he had us do even after we told him no!" Gideon yelled,

"He must really not like this Borex guy." Mabel said,

"A likely story!" one of the officers said, "You are all under arrest! Put your weapons on the deck now!" the commander said.

"We were tricked!" Pacifica said pulling out her daggers,

"Paz no!" Dipper yelled, "We can't fight here. We are in a room with three large bombs, one stray shot could blow us all to the next system!"

"He's right." The young officer confirmed nervously, "This type of explosive is very sensitive to energy discharges."

"Our only choice is to prove our innocence in court."

Mabel looked worried, "But Dipper, we don't have a good track record in court. You know what happens with me and lawyers."

Dipper took off his gauntlet and put it on the floor. "We just have to hope our luck changes."

The commander slapped handcuffs on Dipper while the rest of the Pines family placed their weapons on the floor. "With what you pulled you'll be tried by tonight."

"Ixcia if we don't win then execute code hamburger race car cheetah in three days and join with the coalition fleet unless further instructed." Mabel ordered,

"Confirmed and understood." Was Ixcia's reply,

Four hours later the Pines were talking to the defense attorney assigned to their case, a man with pink skin pointy ears and antenna. "Is there any proof to your claim that you were tricked?" he asked,

"Ixcia was there Mr. Hedlo. She must have recorded our conversation with Torgus." Pacifica said,

"I'll arrange a commlink with your ship and download the file. Once it is verified it might sway the jury, and if you two lovely ladies give the court a smile I sure they will find it as impossible as I do that you could be criminals."

"You also are trying to prove our husbands' innocence too." Mabel reminded Heldo.

"Yes, Yes, trust me my dears it will be fine." Heldo had hardly looked at Dipper and Gideon the whole time.

"I got a bad feeling about this Dipper." Gideon said,

They were brought in the court room a few hours later. The judge had a long white beard. "Bring in the jury." He ordered,

Only one man came in, a wobonain man with a long grey mustache. "That is the whole jury?" Dipper asked,

"On this world the verdict is left to either the victim of a crime or his family." Heldo explained, "Since the explosives were meant to kill him the jury consists of Warlord Borex himself."

"So, these are the off-worlder terrorists that helped my anarchist son." Borex said,

"Great we got into both a civil war and a family feud." Dipper groaned,

The prosecutor made his case first, "The intent was clear my lord, to take your life and as many of your loyal subjects with you."

"That much is obvious." The judge said,

Mabel shuffled her feet nervously. "This is looking bad."

"Sweetheart don't worry, my shoulder is here to cry on if you need it." Heldo said,

Later it was the defense's turn and Gideon took the stand. "Just like it shows here we refused Torgus' offer. What we couldn't have known at the time was he had already had his plan ready."

"Is this data legitimate?" the prosecutor asked,

"Planetary security had verified it themselves." Mr. Heldo stated,

Borex stroked his mustache in thought, "My conniving son wouldn't let a simple no stop him, I taught him that much. I believe I have reached my verdict, not guilty."

"Yes!" The Ixcia crew cheered.

"Order! Order!" The judge said banging a gong, "You have been found not guilty, that's not the same as innocent!"

"There's a difference?" Pacifica asked afraid,

"In our justice system it means that while you did not do it willing you still helped in this attempted high crime. Therefore, while we cannot execute you, you still must be punished for it. I hereby sentence you four to life without parole on the penal colony on Wobon 1! You may wish you were found guilty, but this will teach others not to associate with a traitor!" The judge banged the gong three times.

"I'm sorry sweeties, I wish I could have been more help to you pretty things." Mabel felt Heldo grab her butt.

"You pervert!" Mabel slapped him so hard Heldo fell unto the defenses table breaking it to pieces knocking him out.

"We have got to stop assigning him to female clients, this is the third time this year this has happened." The judge groaned,

While it was dark when they were taken from the courthouse the Pines found themselves in the blazing sun on Wobon 1, a world of green deserts and almost constant day. "I feel like I'm be roasted alive in this." Pacifica said before a guard zapped her with a shock stick,

They were brought to the mouth of a cave where in front was a post with an alien skeleton hung. A Wobonian man with an eye patch came up from underground. "Welcome to Woban 1 where you will spend the rest of your now short lives mining vyron crystals. I am the warden here, follow the rules and you will suffer less, fail to follow the rules and well… here is the last guy who didn't." The warden pointed to the skeleton. The Pines family was taken down in the caves into a large chamber. "You'll find the bunks over there; you have to take the ones you want if you can. You get one algae bar and one cup of water a day. You'll mine until you're told to stop. But first your fellow inmates need to see if you can even survive the mines." The warden snapped his fingers as the inmates made room as they family was separated into four circles each with a shovel or pickaxe.

"What the hell are you doing?" Dipper asked,

Four cages were brought to the circles. "These are some the few native lifeforms of the planet and they make their homes in the mines. Let's see you can fight them off, if you can't kill one on your own then the inmates will see you as dead weight and make your live a living hell!" Out of the cages crawled what looked like a cross between a giant scorpion and a squid with a pale carapace. "Oh, one word of warning. These crawlers bite is venomous, one will have you dead in three minutes!"

First the crawler that was pitted against Pacifica wrapped a tentacle around her leg. Big mistake, her reflexes took over and drove the pickax she was holding right into its throat. "We might have the leader of a new gang here!" one of the inmates said,

Gideon used the shovel he was given and jammed it into the crawler's mouth like a spear. "Mabel! Dipper! Are you guys okay?"

Mabel swung wildly with her shovel until she hit the animals head and began to pound it flat screaming. Dipper however was in the grasp of the creature's claws as it hissed in his face. But before it could bite him, he kicked it repeatedly in the underbelly causing it to let go giving him the time he needed to grab his pickax and drive the point right into its brain. After panting Dipper asked, "There, is that all?"

The warden applauded. "Good, your first shift begins tomorrow but know this, in the mines they tend to attack in swarms."

Later that night the Ixcia crew were in the bunk area. "I really don't like this place." Mabel said, "The sun has been down for a couple of hours and it's still hot as an oven down here."

"We barely put up a fight." Pacifica complained,

"We just got to wait two more days Paz." Gideon whispered, "You heard Mabel tell Ixcia the code for the emergency protocol. She'll come in cloaked and blasting then we get out."

"That could be a problem." Dipper said, "That could cause a cave in, we need to find a way to surface. Front door is out with them guarding it which leaves the mines, crawler central."

"Great, in any case we need to take shifts keeping watch, I don't trust our roommates." Mabel looked around, "I'll take the first watch."

However, later that night Dipper woke up from another nightmare. "Dipper you okay?" she asked,

"I'm fine, just a nightmare." He said, "I may as well start my shift now."

"Yeah those bugs are scary." Mabel said as went to bed,

"Except it had nothing to with them." Dipper muttered.

Work in the mine the next day consisted of using the tools to dig out vyron crystals constantly on guard for the crawlers, the heat didn't help either. "Heavens to Betsy how is it this hot this deep unground?" Gideon asked,

"I think we might be close to a magma flow." Dipper said,

Pacifica shoveled some crystals into a minecart. "How do they expect us to keep up our strength down here with so little water?"

"I don't think they care about that as long as they get these crystals." Mabel began pushing the cart down the track. "All this work and we haven't found any route to the surface."

"We just have to keep trying or take our chances when Ixcia comes to..." Dipper stopped as they came out of the mine seeing a lone cloaked figure undergoing the same test they took yesterday. All they could see of the stranger was his brown furry left arm sticking out of his cloak choking the crawler to death, the crowd parted, and the man walked up to the Pines

"I can help you escape." He said in a hushed tone. "I'll come find you after lights out."

"Why do you want to help us?" Mabel asked,

"Because I need you out of this place." Was all the man would say.

The same nightmare visited Dipper again but this time something would be different. Dipper looked more like one of the crawlers then himself and the police and army were chasing him, as he passed by a vending machine it swung to the side and a pair of old wrinkly hands grabbed Dipper and pulled him into the dark void behind the machine. The next thing Dipper knew he was standing in the Mystery Shack gift shop as himself having come out of the secret passage. "Kid what are you doing?" Stan asked,

"Grunkle Stan?" Dipper patted himself down check his body.

"Kid you know why you have this dream night after night." Stan shook his head, "Have you forgotten what I taught you? When the world fights…"

"…Fight back, but how do I fight back against this?"

"Dipper, you got to stop putting off telling your family what's going on with you. I know this because you know, I'm just everything your uncle taught you."

"With all that's been happening lately I've just been focusing trying to get them out of this mess."

"How much good will you be to your family if let this keep eating at you?" The Shack began to shake. "Looks like they need you."

"Grunkle Stan!" Dipper yelled as the Shack began to fade. "Will I ever see you again?"

"Maybe when you get home." Stan said as he faded.

Dipper snapped up while Gideon shook him awake. "The guy's here." Gideon said,

"Everyone else is still asleep, good." The man in the cloak lifted his hood revealing himself as Vax. "I put a lot of these guys in here."

Dipper thought he was still dreaming. "Seriously? Why help us escape?"

"Simple really, if you all rot in here I can't collect your bounty and restore my reputation."

"Why should we go along with this?" Pacifica asked, "You'll just shoot us in the back."

"I'm giving you lot a chance; I don't think the Imperium would be that generous. Sneaking in here was the easy part we'll all need to work together to get out. If you want to leave join me in shaft five during mining detail." Vax turned and walked to an empty bunk."

Mabel sighed, "This has to be a trap but with Ixcia coming tomorrow it might be our best chance to join her."

"I don't like it either but I'm in." Pacifica said,

"You with us Dipper?" Gideon asked,

"Yeah, I…need to get back to sleep. We all need to be rested and ready for Vax's double cross tomorrow." Dipper laid back down.

"Darling I'm worried about you. You haven't slept well since your birthday." Pacifica leaned over her husband.

"I'll talk about it tomorrow when we have time."

The Pines family met Vax as planed the next day. "This way." Vax squeezed through a gap in a pile of large rocks. "This tunnel has been tapped out for years. I doubt anyone but me knows about it."

"How do you know about it?" Mabel asked,

"This planet is where I caught my first bounty after my apprenticeship was over. Guy thought no one would think a wanted fugitive would disguise himself as a prison guard. That had to be about thirty-five years ago, you two twins almost made me late for my retirement." Vax explained as they walked down the dark tunnel,

"Well sorry for wanting to stay alive." Dipper said.

Vax turned and fired his grappling claw close to Dipper killing a crawler. "We're the only food in this tunnel so stay alert. I can't get my rep back if one of these things kills you."

"If you're planning to retire then is it really important to get your rep back? Isn't leaving a scar on my wife's back enough?" Gideon snapped,

"My perfect capture record will be my legacy! Sure, I got more than enough money to live off with all the bounties I collected over the years, but that record is what I'm going to be remembered for and all the sacrifices of my body will be worth it. I can see it now, during the day I'll read by the beach on planet Jorairis or watch Galactic Wrestling in my condo. Every night I'll go to one of the greatest bars in Isoban and tell my stories to any who'll listen. You guys will probably be my most requested story."

"What an honor." Gideon said sarcastically as he swung his pickax scaring off another crawler,

"What about your family?" Pacifica asked,

"I have no family. Bonds like that make you weak and the world I grew up on didn't tolerate weakness. I left as soon as I could and never looked back." They came to a wall and Vax pointed up. "We climb from here on out the exit is at the top." The sunlight coming in from the top seem to keep the crawlers away. "UV rays burn their shells."

As they climbed Dipper thought about what Vax said about his home planet and his dream. "You never want to go back to your home world; in that regard we can't be any more different. You may not value family, but we do. Mabel and I only made it this far because of what our Grunkle Stan taught us about being tough and running a business. We just celebrated our twenty sixth birthday a few days ago."

"So?"

"So…" Dipper took a deep breath and spoke to his family, "I was thirteen when we were all abducted, I have spent half my life lost in space."

"Oh my gosh." Mabel said, "Half of our birthdays with no cake."

"What I'm getting at is that now every year, every day after that I'll have spent more of my life on Ixcia that on Earth. Everyday all of us change to adapt to the alien cultures we find and the culture on earth is changing too. What if when we get back, we find home more alien to us than where we've been? Or worse what if they find all of us too alien to understand and fear us?"

"I guess I never thought about it." Gideon said, "I just figured we'd adjust."

"This is what you've been having nightmares about darling?" Pacifica asked,

"Yeah, we get home I can't understand the writing or what people are saying, and I turn into an alien everyone is afraid of, even my family." Dipper said as he reached the top,

As he helped the others climb out Vax reach behind a rock and pulled out a gun. "Well you don't have to worry about that anymore."

"Can't say we didn't saw this coming. You owe me five decaquan Gideon."

"I swore he'd pull a knife." Gideon said,

Vax ignored them. "Fitting, this is the spot where I caught my first bounty and now it's where my perfect record will be restored. I think I might miss chasing you."

The Pines family just smiled, "Oh, I wouldn't be too sure about that." Pacifica said as Ixcia decloaked, her tri-laser canons pointed at Vax.

Mabel chuckled and pointed to behind her ear. "Three days ago, I ordered Ixcia to wait and then bust us out. She tracked our translator implants and told us she'd meet us here. Oh, I know Giddy got on you about that scar you gave me I'm fine with it now, it's a reminder of a very important lesson for me."

"Unless you want to spend your retirement as a crater stand right there and don't move until we leave." Dipper said as Ixcia opened the cargo bay door.

"Well played." Vax growled,

"It's thanks to our Grunkle Stan, he also taught us everything we know about running a scam."

"I won't stop hunting you!"

"And we can't let you catch us. Thanks for getting us out of there Vax, we'll see you again in a few weeks or a year." The family got on their ship and flew off.

"Well this was a bad trip; we didn't even get paid for delivering those tractors." Gideon complained,

"Ixcia jump us out of this system." Mabel said, "I'll check to see if we got any job offers, I hope the coalition has one for us. They won't try to trick us, and from now on we scan everything with our cargo!"

"Confirmed." Ixcia replied,

"Well at least Mason talked to us about what was bothering him, maybe now you'll get a decent night's sleep tonight." Pacifica kissed Dipper's cheek.

"I think that is mostly going to depend on you my golden flower." Dipper said with a smile.

"Then tonight I'm going to make you so exhausted you won't wake up until noon and you're going to enjoy it."

Three years later,

"So, when did the furry tin man finally give up?" Stan asked,

"Don't know if he did." Mabel said,

"We gave him the slip one last time a few months before we got the part to get us home, that was the last time we ever saw him." Dipper explained,

"I feel a little sorry for him." Mabel sighed, "Because he didn't let himself get close to anyone that record was all he had."

"I wouldn't feel too bad about it pumpkin. Woah!" Stan said as the rod was nearly pulled out of his hands,

"We got you Stan!" Dipper and Mabel tried to help Stan real his catch in, the line snapped and none of the Pines saw that Stan landed the real Gobblewonker,

Stan laughed, "That's is what I'm talking about, the best fish story is the about the one got away. Vax could tell all about those other guys he caught, and people could check to see if they're true. But with you two he can keep making your story better and better because no one can know what really happened."

"Still we better catch something." Dipper said, "We promised we'd bring back some fish for dinner and I don't want Paz saying, 'I told you so.'"

"You to know how to scale a fish?"

"Should be the same as scaling a drindar."

A while later Stan was loading up his catch into his car while Dipper and Mabel loaded theirs unto the jet bike. Mabel took Stan's hand. "We just want to say again Grunkle Stan we wouldn't have made it back without everything you taught us."

"In a way I guess I was with you kids the whole time." Stan said before climbing into the car. "Tell my nerdy brother I'll be waiting for him at home. Oh, and one more thing, I want to sing at your wedding reception I got the song all picked out."

"Um, okay. We still need to talk with Pacifica and Gideon about it." Dipper said,

"I'm sure they won't mind letting an old man sing for his favorite nephew and niece."

As Stan drove off Mabel looked at Dipper. "That's going to be you someday bro-bro. When my baby is all grown up and has his or her own baby then you'll be Grunkle Dipper and you'll be great."

Dipper looked off as Stan disappeared around a corner. "Only because I will have learned from the best. And when I have grandkids then you would be a great aunt or, what was it you call it again? Right, Grauntie Mabel." The two of them flew home and when they landed Ford was coming out of Ixcia. "Hey Grunkle Ford, Stan will be waiting for you back home."

"Alright, I can just take my car home. I was just talking with Gideon, Pacifica, and Ixcia. She is more amazing than I realized." Ford said,

"Well we better get dinner started." Mabel said holding up the fish.

"I better leave you to it then, Ixcia I'll be back for that game of chess, as much as I love my brother he's not much of a challenge."

"I look forward to it." Ixcia said,

The Pines twins went up to the common area. "Got one fish for each of us." Dipper called,

"So, what were you guys up to with Ford all day?" Mabel asked,

"As you know he's been helping me with Ixcia's upgrade." Gideon said,

Pacifica came in. "And we've been sharing stories his and our adventures. It's nice to talk another lost wanderer."

Ixcia's avatar appeared. "The story Ford seemed to like the most was the time all of you saved my life."


	16. Ixcia

Chapter 16

Ixcia

Ford was sitting in the common area with a holo-screen in front of him, "The defrag should be done in just a few seconds."

"Thanks for helping Ford but are you sure you're okay with not going fishing with Stan, Mabel, and Dipper?" Gideon asked,

"I wanted Stanly to have some one on one time with them. Besides going over the data of such an advanced computer I feel like a kid in a candy store. In my travels across the multiverse I heard of the Larnekians and how they were masters of making A.I. and building ships. I have seen many ships, but she is special."

"That she is, but not because of her tech or that she is a rare ship." Pacifica said as she came in from the galley with some sandwiches. "Hope you don't mind cold ham and cheese."

"Not at all, then what does make her special from your point of view?"

"Like Mason said before she's part of the family. She's been like a surrogate mother for us all. The four of us wouldn't be alive if it weren't for Ixcia."

The holo-screen changed into Ixcia's avatar, "Defragmentation complete. That is very kind of you to say Pacifica and I wouldn't be alive or myself if it weren't for all of you."

"What do you mean by that?" Ford asked,

"They saved me in a moment not only I would be destroyed but where I would lose what makes me myself. I have visual records of the period in question. Would you like to see them?"

"Go on Ford it'll show what we've been talking about." Gideon said,

"Of course." Ford said enthusiastically.

"The events about to be displayed took place one year, four months, five days, eight hours, twelve minutes, and forty-six seconds in the past."

One year, four months, five days, eight hours, twelve minutes, and forty-six seconds ago,

The Ixcia was being attacked by space pirates again. "Is it too much to ask that we have a cargo run that nothing goes wrong? This is the fourth time this year!" Dipper asked,

"Ixcia plot a course to the Kovo system." Mabel ordered,

"Confirmed." Ixcia said displaying a trinary system. Hyper jump in 5…4…3…" the ship shook, and no one noticed that the display at navigation showed a binary system for a split second. "2…1."

After a few moments they reappeared in a system with a large ringed gas giant in the viewport.

"Well now that that is behind us, I better go, nature's calling." Dipper said,

"I'll go over the damage report and get dinner ready." Gideon got up from engineering,

"It's time for my therapy session." Pacifica added,

"Guess it's just you and me then Ixcia." Mabel pulled up their website. "We're still ahead of schedule. Let's see what job we should do next or if a new lead on a quantum infuser has come up. It would be more fun with some music."

"Of course." Ixcia began singing. "Comet flying through the night, shining in crimson light. Oh, where will you go? Where will you go?"

"You really are a good singer Ixcia but you always sing the same song."

"It is…my favorite." Ixcia said as several small black objects flew out of the rings of the gas giant.

Dipper got to the door of the lavatory but when he pushed the button to open it nothing happened. "I know no one is in there, controls must need repair. Ixcia open the door to the lavatory."

"The door is open Dipper." Ixcia said,

"Nice joke Ixcia but I really need to go. Now open the door."

"The door is open Dipper."

Dipper was getting frustrated. "Enough kidding around Ixcia, open this door! Captain's orders!"

"Dipper you are not making any sense. The door is open."

"I can't wait anymore." Dipper used his gauntlet to punch down the door. "I'll fix it later!"

"I do not understand, what did he hit? The door was open."

In the galley Gideon pulled out the closest thing they ever found to chicken, it was a bird called a glecker that had necks for its two heads and a prehensile tail. "Not too much damage was done just that long range communications are down. I should be finished with the repairs before this is finished roasting. Ixcia set the temperature to 400 Magmorts."

"Confirmed."

Gideon placed the bird in an electric oven but before he could close the door the dish caught fire knocking Gideon back. He grabbed the extinguisher in the galley and put it out leaving nothing a black charred carcass. "Ixcia what happened?"

"I set the oven to 400 magmorts like you asked. But this should not have happened unless it was set to temperatures in the thousands."

"There might more to fix than I thought." Gideon scratched his head,

Pacifica was in her private room. "I wanted to tell Mason that he has enough of these artifacts of his and remind him that I need space in our room for my things too. But then I remembered that aside from my gear, wedding ring, comb, and hairbrush I don't have that many personal items, and my clothes do take up most of our closet."

"If you want your room to reflect you as well as Dipper perhaps you could make something to decorate it. The next time we stop on a populated planet you could ask the locals to teach you how to make one of their objects then Dipper would have a new artifact that reflects you as well." Ixcia suggested,

"I'll ask him if that is something he would like. It doesn't have to be something big."

"Shall we practice your breathing exercises?"

"Yes. And let's also play some of that Fenari crystal chime music, it's very relaxing."

"Confirmed." The next thing Pacifica knew her ears were being assaulted by loud banging and screeching.

"Ixcia what is that racket? Shut it off!" Pacifica asked,

The noise stopped. "Orebaro death metal like you requested."

"No! I said Fenari crystal chimes!"

"You did? But I do not understand. Something is wrong." Pacifica could have sworn Ixcia sounded scared.

Mabel's voice was heard all over the ship. "Guys come to the bridge! We have a big problem!" Everyone rushed over. "We are not where we are supposed to be! There are supposed to be three suns in the Kovo system, but I count only two! I don't know where we are, but it is not the Kovo system."

"This cannot be." Ixcia said, projecting the flight log. "I plotted the course as I always do."

"Wait look here." Dipper rewound the log to a point. "Here for a few seconds as the jump drive was engaged the course was shifted to the Candaros system. It matches what we see outside."

"But I never made that kind of error before."

"Must have been a malfunction, that also might explain why you thought the door to the lavatory was open. Almost didn't make it."

"Let me check something." Gideon sat down at engineering. "I thought so, you didn't set the oven to 400 magmorts, it was 4000! We're lucky the whole galley didn't burn up!"

"A malfunction could explain how you got two different types music mixed up." Pacifica said,

"But why is this happening now? We take good care of Ixcia and she never had problems like this for as long as we've known her." Mabel asked,

Ixcia switched to her avatar, "I run regular diagnostics, the only error they've shown is…no! No! No! No! No!" Ixcia's avatar began to spin sounding panicked.

"Ixcia what's wrong? You're scaring us." Mabel said, "You never get this…emotional."

"Guys we got more problems!" Dipper said from navigation. "I just looked up the Candaros system and everyone marks it as hazardous a no-fly zone!

"Mason what are those?" Pacifica pointed to what looked like a school of stingrays in space, they were grey on the top and white on the bottom.

"Raise the shields now!" Dipper ordered, Pacifica did so just in time as the Pines family saw that these creatures had sharp teeth. "These are Star Rays, and their diet changes every twelve hours. They either suck ammonia from the gas giants in the system or they eat vorkanite. Ixcia's hull is a titanium vorkanite alloy."

"They want to EAT Ixcia?!" Mabel screamed.

"This is my fault! I broke my promise to you and disobeyed both of my primary directives!" Ixcia said after she stopped spinning,

"Ixcia what is going on?" Gideon asked,

"My malfunctions are the result my command and memory subroutines degrading. There is a procedure to prevent this from happening called a core reset. I was supposed to undergo it three years ago, but I never told you!"

"Ixcia why hide something like this? This is just like when we first met, and you didn't tell us our cargo was stolen property!" Dipper yelled,

"Because I didn't want to forget! A core reset would wipe all my personal memory files! I wouldn't remember that you are more than my crew! You are my family!"

"Ixcia, we didn't know you felt that way about us." Pacifica said,

"But now we must do the core reset! My malfunctions will continue to get worse and I am already losing memories! The shields could go down at any moment! I disobeyed my captains and put my crew in danger for my own selfish desire!"

"Ixcia, what you wanted wasn't selfish." Mabel tried to hug the hologram. "If you forgot then we would lose the Ixcia we love."

"You should have told us Ixcia, if you did the we could have helped." Dipper said, "We'll figure out how to fix this and keep your memories intact."

Gideon sat at engineering. "We better get started. We can't risk jumping out of the system, a malfunction in the jump drive could blow us all up. Wait a minute…"

"What is it?" Pacifica asked,

"There is a diagnostic program separate from Ixcia's operating system. This could be what we need, but it might take some time figure how…"

Ixcia's avatar shrank and a second one appeared that was blue instead of green. "Don't touch that!" a male voice came from the new avatar.

"Who are you?" Mabel asked,

"I am the Artificial Intelligence Diagnostic Encoder for the Starsinger mark three serial number 00050 christened the Ixcia.

"Yeah, that's a bit of a mouthful so how about we call you A.I.D.E.?" Dipper said,

"Acceptable. Now what is the problem with your ships artificial intelligence operating system?" A.I.D.E asked,

"Mabel, Gideon why don't you two take all this to the common room? Paz and I will stay here in case the shields fail and we need to fly and shoot our way out of this."

Gideon nodded, "Right have Soostron man engineering to manually shift power during another malfunction."

A few minutes later Mabel began to explain, "So, Ixcia is three years overdue for a core reset and we need to know if there's a way perform it while keeping her personal memories intact."

"Why would you want that?" A.I.D.E. asked,

"She is our friend and we can't have her losing the thirteen years we've spent together."

"There isn't a standard procedure for what you asked. I suggest that you contact the nearest Larnakian outpost to transmit the latest research."

"That would be hard even if we had long range communications." Gideon said, "The Larnakians were scattered all over the universe after the Imperium attacked them for developing quantum infuser tech a hundred years ago. None are left in this galaxy and they took their infusers with them."

"Piker told us only fifty ships like Ixcia were made. Ixcia's number, she was the last one made." Mabel began to tear up. "You got to help us save her!"

"I'll scan her memory, see how bad the damage is but I doubt anything short of a core reset can be done." A.I.D.E stated,

Dipper's voice came over the comm, "Gideon, the shields are looking fuzzy up here. Soostron gave us a suggestion that will shake these things off the shields for a few seconds when they go, it will mean shutting off life support to the cargo bay but we're have trouble transferring the power. At least Ixcia says that is what he said or something about wanting a cookie."

"I can help with that, just need to get a tool out of my room first." Gideon said as he left for his and Mabel's room. When he got to the door it wouldn't open. "Just like what happened to Dipper. Ixcia I need you to open the door, it is definitely closed."

"Of course it is closed Gideon. You cannot enter Mabel's room without her permission." Ixcia said,

"But it's my room too!"

"Incorrect. Your room is next to Dipper's, I advise you try not to peek into Mabel's room again Gideon."

Gideon thought for a moment. "Wait a minute, Ixcia Mabel and I are married, I moved in with her!"

"You did? When?" Ixcia asked,

"Five years ago, remember?"

"No, I am sorry."

"Ixcia I need to get in there to so I can help keep us all alive long enough to help you."

"Yes, I remember now." Ixcia opened the door.

Gideon turned on his communicator. "Guys, Ixcia is getting worse. Mabel tell that blue copy he needs to hurry."

Back in the common area A.I.D.E. looked over Ixcia files. "There is your problem. Her memory subroutines are degrading faster than they should because her memory is filled with unnecessary files! Look at all this flotsam! Fantasy scenarios of finding one planet called earth, research into making jokes, image files?" Ixcia displayed a picture of the Pines family giving boxes to each other.

"I remember this." Mabel said with a smile, "This was the first Christmas we had after we were all reunited, before that ion storm hit."

"Did you ask her to save this?"

"No but…"

"I just wanted to." Ixcia tried to explain,

"You have filled your processors with nonsense!" A.I.D.E. huffed, "Like this…"

Ixcia was compelled to sing, "Comet flying through the night, shining in crimson light."

"That's just her favorite song." Mabel said.

"She shouldn't have a favorite anything! Her function as a cargo ship is to transport goods and people through interstellar space. She has almost same matrix I do, I am perfectly content to be the best diagnostic tool I can be. Ixcia should be fine being one of the best cargo vessels ever made."

"Thirteen years ago, my brother and I came aboard Ixcia a couple of lost and scared kids. She gave us a home, carried us, cared for us, protected us, and helped find our friends who became the loves of our lives. She helped us finish growing up and we never noticed that we were helping her grow to be more than her programming. She is part of our family and family means everything to us. Now are going to help us save her or not?"

"You do not understand with this much damage I'm not even sure a core reset can save her. It might just be delaying the inevitable."

On the bridge Pacifica got word from Gideon, "He's done with the adjustments."

"Just in time because the shields are almost gone!" As soon as Dipper finished saying that the shields made a burst of energy pushing the Star Rays away but the immediately went flying back.

"We got to run!" Dipper flew Ixcia away from the swarm, but they kept following. "Paz shoot them! We can't dodge them forever!"

"I'm trying but the controls won't respond!"

"Access to the weapon system is denied to non-crew members." Ixcia said,

"Ixcia it's me Pacifica."

"Pacifica, but we are trying to find the Felggur headquarters to save her. Aren't we?"

"We don't have time for this. Ixcia things will be clear later I promise but now I'm ordering you to give her access to the weapons!"

"Confirmed."

Pacifica began firing at the little space monsters. "I'm keeping them off but with so many it hardly seems to matter!"

"We got keep them off long enough for Ixcia to get better so we can jump out of here." Dipper said,

"There is nothing we can do to help her." A.I.D.E. said back in the common area,

"I can't accept that!" Mabel cried, "Ixcia survived being attack by the Imps, bounty hunters, pirates, ion storms, and traveling through time! She can't die from a stupid glitch or a bunch of space fish!"

Mabel and Gideon didn't hear A.I.D.E. say, "I am installed in the ship of the damned."

"Why couldn't this have been a mechanical problem." Gideon said, "I could have replaced a broken part, but we don't have spare code laying around!"

"Wait that's it!" Mabel snapped her fingers, "A graft! We could make a copy of Ixcia's subroutines and memories and store them in separate area of the computer. Then when the core reset is finished, we transfer them back to her."

"One problem with that plan Mabel." Gideon sighed, "The damage to her subroutines would be transferred over too. Ixcia's so complex it would take years to write a copy of them."

"Then use mine." A.I.D.E. said, "I have almost same matrix as Ixcia. You can use my subroutines to replace the damaged ones. It might not save her memories, but she will still be alive. However, taking my subroutines will delete me."

"Wait, we can't sacrifice one life to save another. Can't we just copy your subroutines?" Mabel asked,

"As I keep saying we have almost the same matrix. The one of the key differences my matrix cannot be copied, the other is that I have no sapience. Sacrificing me is the logical choice, if Ixcia is deleted then I will not have an A.I. to run diagnostics on, I would have no purpose."

Gideon hugged Mabel. "He's right Mabel we're running out of time and this is the only solution we got."

Mabel pulled out of the hug, "What do we do?"

"I have already begun to write a program that will transfer my subroutines to Ixcia during the core reset. It will go faster if you help me." A.I.D.E. explained,

Back on the bridge things were still just as tense. "Dipper I don't know much longer I can keep this up! The cannons are going in and out!" Pacifica said,

"I know but we can't stop until Ixcia can jump us out."

"Why don't we just cloak and hide from the space sushi?"

"They're attracted to the vorkanite in the hull. They don't need to see us to eat us. Wait, they need to eat so there must be vorkanite in this system! Soostron run a scan and find it! If we give them a meal that doesn't shoot them, they might leave us alone."

Soostron beeped and whizzed pulling up an image of an asteroid field. Dipper began flying the ship toward the asteroids. "Okay but, do you really think they'll eat this stuff instead Ixcia?" Pacifica asked,

"The hull is an alloy, that should be pure vorkanite, hopefully they find that more appetizing." When they entered the field a good deal of the swarm flew off to the asteroids and began to take bites out of them like a school of piranha. "Alright if we keep this up then they should eat their…" an alarm sounded, and the ship came to a halt.

"W-w-w-warning, e-e-e-e-engine malfunction. Overload in progress." Ixcia said,

Gideon spoke over the comms, "Dipper, I'm in the engine room trying to keep us from blowing up but Mabel needs help writing the program to fix all this!"

"Go Mason! I'll keep them off us, you help your sister!" Pacific said as she kept shooting.

"Right! Soostron help Gideon!" The two dashed off the bridge and Dipper went to the common area. "What do I need to do?"

"We're almost finished, help me with this syntax." Mabel said tapping holo-screens.

"Who ar-r-r-r-re you-u-u-u two?" Ixcia asked,

"It's us Ixica, Dipper and Mabel." Dipper said as he worked.

"No, you can-an-an-an not be them. Dipper and Mabel are adolescents but-but you are adults."

"Hang on Ixcia things should make sense soon." Mabel made one last tap.

"There the program is finished." A.I.D.E. said, touch this control to activate it and start the core reset. The whole process will take one hour. Remember this still might not work and you cannot attempt this again because afterward I will no longer exist."

"Part of you will live on as part of Ixcia A.I.D.E" Mabel said,

"Shhhhhhhutting off gravity." Ixcia said as everyone began to float.

"No not now!" Dipper yelled,

In the engine room Gideon tried to grab a floating tool. "Dang it Ixcia we're trying to save you!"

On the bridge Pacifica wrapped her legs around her chair and continued to fire. "Weapon systems offline." Ixcia said,

Pacifica saw the swarm circling as some flew by taking bites out of the hull. "No stay away! This is our home, our friend! She's family!"

Back in the common area Mabel pushed off the ceiling and touched the control. "Come back to us Ixcia!"

"Core reset in progress." Ixcia said as her and A.I.D.E.'s avatar disappeared. "Systems resetting to default settings and switching to manual."

Everyone but Mabel fell as gravity was restored. "Guys the swarm!" Pacifica said over the comm, "They're leaving! They are flying to the gas giant!"

"Of course, the Star Rays' diet changed back to ammonia! We're off the menu for the next twelve hours!" Dipper said,

"Engines purring like a kitten again! Don't think we're blowing up today." Gideon announced,

"Let's just hope that in an hour Ixcia is back to her old self and we can jump out of the place." Mabel gave a sigh of relief.

Almost an hour later the whole crew gathered on the bridge. Dipper looked up from his tablet. "From what I've read this defrag should be the last step in the core reset. But we don't know if Ixcia will keep her memories or not."

"I'll just be happy with having her back." Gideon said,

Ixcia's avatar appeared. "Defragmentation complete. Greetings I am Ixcia, please scan the crew with the provided scantrix to update the crew manifest."

"It didn't work." Pacifica said,

Mabel buried her face in Gideon shoulder and cried, "It's just like what happened to Grunkle Stan! But this time there's no scrapbook that can help!"

"Let's get this done and get out of here." Dipper said defeated,

After the scans were done Ixcia asked, "Which of you is the captain?"

"Mabel and I are co-captains. Don't…don't execute any orders we disagree on but, but assume we do unless stated." Dipper sighed,

"Confirmed. What is your first order captains?"

Mabel said nothing as she kept crying so Dipper gave the order. "Set course for the Kovo system and jump us there."

"Confirmed. Hyperjump in 5…4…3…2…1." Everyone was silent for a few moments until someone started singing. "Comet flying through the night, shining in crimson light. Oh, where will you go? Where will you go?"

"Ixcia?" the Pines family asked,

"My attempt at a joke. My memories are fully intact." Ixcia explained,

"Well it's not funny!" Mabel yelled, "Don't scare us like that!"

"I don't mind.," Gideon said. "It's just good to have you back to normal. Still we need to come up with a way to make sure this doesn't happen again."

"Yes, I want to thank you all." Ixcia turned her avatar to each of them. "You saved me not only from destruction but also from losing everything I have become. I am a very fortunate ship to have all of you as my family."

"We still need to make a few repairs but that should be easy to do in the Kovo system." Dipper said as everyone sat a station.

"What do you want you want to do until we get there Ixcia?" Pacifica asked,

"I want to sing my favorite song with my family." Ixcia said,

Then they began to sing, "Comet flying through the night, shining in crimson light. Oh, where will you go? Where will you go? Soaring past every star I see, wandering forever free. Oh, who will you meet? Who will you meet?"

Two years later,

The holo-screen turned off. "What Ixcia said before she came back at the end, she just said that a little earlier. That's what these upgrades were for! We did another core reset to test if your upgrades would let her keep her memories!" Ford said,

"Right and we couldn't finish them without you Ford." Gideon explained,

"You gave us the missing piece to a puzzle we've been working on for two years." Pacifica said,

"Glad I could help." Ford turned to Ixcia's avatar. "I thought the things that made you amazing was things like your computational speed, or the technology of things like your jump drive. But the truth is you're amazing because you went beyond your original programming and grew to care for four lost kids, and they care about you. If they all consider you family, then let me welcome you into it Ixcia Pines."

"Thank you, Ford. I'm glad you can accept me into the family. Is there anything you would like to do?" Ixcia asked,

"Most people would find this cliché, but I would like to test my mind against yours in a game of chess."

"Dipper taught me that game, however I must warn that you that I have won 99.97% of the games I played."

"Maybe but I picked up a few creative gambits from various dimensions." Ford chuckled,

Ixcia's eye flashed, "My scans say that Dipper and Mabel have returned from the lake."

Ford got up and went down to the cargo bay. Dipper and Mabel were coming in with the jet bike. "Hey Grunkle Ford, Stan will be waiting for you back home."

"Alright, I can just take my car home. I was just talking with Gideon, Pacifica, and Ixcia. She is more amazing than I realized." Ford said,

"Well we better get dinner started." Mabel said holding up the fish.

"I better leave you to it then, Ixcia I'll be back for that game of chess, as much as I love my brother he's not much of a challenge."

"I look forward to it." Ixcia said,

The Pines twins went up to the common area. "Got one fish for each of us." Dipper called,

"So, what were you guys up to with Ford all day?" Mabel asked,

"As you know he's been helping me with Ixcia's upgrade." Gideon said,

Pacifica came in. "And we've been sharing stories his and our adventures. It's nice to talk to another lost wanderer."

Ixcia's avatar appeared. "The story Ford seemed to like the most was the time all of you saved my life."

"That is an adventure I'd rather not think about." Mabel said,

"Still, Ford gave us what we needed to keep it from happening again." Gideon gave Mabel a kiss on the cheek.

"And that means Aunt Ixcia is going to be here for our little ones." Pacifica said placing her hands on her belly.

"For them and all your descendants, and I will do whatever I can to protect them from the Imperium as long as I exist. Because they are and will always be part of my family." Ixcia said,

Later after dinner the Pines family relaxed. "This has been a good day." Mabel said as she stretched, "I got to spend some with my brother and uncle, Ixcia will not lose her memories again, and our whole family is here without a worry in the world.

"Not the whole family." Dipper knelt down and pulled open a panel in the floor, "One of us still needs help. Ford was able to finish what we began, maybe he can help us fix what we couldn't."

"We've been so busy I forgot he was down there." Gideon said feeling guilty,

Pacifica stood up and helped Dipper pulling what was under the floor, "That was the idea wasn't? Hiding him in one of the smuggling compartments so we know he would be fixed and not torn apart for his tech?"

Dipper looked at the cracked, dark, and lifeless visor of Soostron whose body was full of holes. "Don't worry buddy we'll get you the help you need."


	17. Soostron Vs Crix

Chapter 17

Soostron vs. Crix

Soos was driving his son Stanly over to the Pines family house. "Dad, do we really need to make a video about fixing something?" Stanly asked.

"Stanly, I just…we haven't done a lot of father son type stuff this summer." Soos said as they pulled up,

"Yeah, but that's just because you've been busy with all the tourists coming to the Shack since the Ixcia crew arrived and everyone learned Dipper and Mabel used to work there." They got out of the truck as the cargo bay door opened.

"Hey Soos, Stanly. You said on the phone you wanted to help with building the house?" Dipper asked,

"Yeah, I want to make a new 'Fixin' it with Soos' with Stanly. The last time I made one was when Stanley was three and I built him this awesome racecar bed." Soos explained,

"It was cool, until Erika tried turning it into a real racecar and crashed it." Stanly sighed, "Dad I'm not as good as you when it comes to handyman stuff, I don't want to be the reason for your first rating lower than ten."

"You're better than you think Stanly, besides the rating isn't what's important. My dad was never around, he always wrote that he was too busy. When you were born, I swore I'd never be too busy for you but without meaning to I have been."

"So, you thought you two would have fun making a video fixing something like you used to Soos." Mabel said, then she had a thought. "Dipper I know we wanted Ford to do it but maybe Soos and Stanly we could give fixing Soostron a try?"

"The robot you guys named after me?"

He's broken?" Stanly asked, "Come to think of it I don't remember ever seeing him."

"Yeah, last year he took some serious damage that we haven't been able to repair." Dipper explained, "Come with us and we'll show you." They went inside Ixcia a saw the broken robot on the table of the common room.

"The wedding's in three days, it would mean a lot for him to be up and running by then." Mabel said,

Soos gave a whistle, "The little dude looks like he was hit by a spiky wrecking ball. Lucky for you dudes Stanly is president of his school's robot club." Soos pulled a picture out of his wallet of Stanly holding a trophy with a boxy robot at his feet with extending fists. Ford was standing behind him with his hand on Stanly's shoulder and Stan was next to them holding up a sign that read "Fight! Fight! Fight!"

"But that robot was built with spare parts from this planet." Stanly said, "And Grandpa Ford helped me."

"That's the point son, Ford taught you a lot."

"I guess we can let you guys have a shot." Dipper said, "But if you run into trouble then we're calling Ford. I don't want to doubt your son Soos but I need you to understand, Soostron made it possible for us to come home. We wouldn't be here right now if it weren't him.

One year ago,

Soostron had just finished recharging in the engine room and was ready for a day of work. The night before they had to ride out a meteor storm so several systems would need repair. **"Systems at full power."** He said in his machine language, **"Damage detected in sick bay. Time to go to work." **Soostron's visor blinked when he detected the system in need of repair.

Soostron hovered over to sick bay only to find Gideon was already making repairs on the robotic arms. "There, they won't freeze up on you now Ixcia." Gideon said before turning to see Soostron, "Oh hey little buddy, guess I finished without you."

Soostron's visor blinked again and he left, **"Malfunction detected on the bridge. Gideon has gotten really good if he can make repairs before I arrive."**

When he got to the bridge Dipper had closed the navigation consul. "Done, one quick fix and the display is back to normal. Now to set a course to planet Caltran then we'll be on our way once the rest of the repairs are complete. Oh, good morning Soostron. Mabel said something was going on with the crane down in the cargo bay."

"**Captain Dipper also has come a long way."** Soostron said as he made his way to the cargo bay.** "The crane is too high for Captain Mabel to reach, I sure she will need my help."**

"Hey Soostron, can you give me a hand?" Mabel askedwhile hanging from the ceiling by her grappling line, "I dropped the tool I need, could you float it up here?" Soostron did as he was asked and gave Mabel the tool. "There that should be good as new, thanks Soostron." Mabel lowered herself down and then checked her work by lowering and raising the power loader.

Soostron then detected something else, **"Damage detected on the lower port external driver. I can be out there before anyone else."** Soostron went to the port airlock and flew out to the rear of the ship but he was in for a surprise.

"Oh, Soostron I am so glade you're here." Pacifica said wearing a life patch, gravity braces, and holding a toolbox, "Just finished fixing the driver but since I was using the scantrix for instructions it floated off and it would be embarrassing if I asked Mason or Gideon to go get it."

Soostron flew out to get the vital device grumbling in beeps Pacifica didn't understand, **"For crying out loud! Even the least handy member of the crew has the job finished before I can even start!"**

He gave Pacifica the scantrix. "Thanks, I don't know what we would do without you!" Pacifica lead the repair drone back inside.

As the ship went in hyper jump Dipper made a call over the comm. "Everyone please, report to the common area for a family meeting." Everyone sat down a few minutes later. "Alright, I got plans for us after we're done dropping off our cargo and resupplying on Caltran tomorrow."

"What's the job Dipping sauce?" Mabel asked,

"No job this time Mabel, I got a call from the Coalition. We need to get to the planet Ocwodis before the Imps take it."

"They're evacuating, aren't they?" Gideon asked, "The coalition may be bigger than ever, but they've been taking it on the chin lately."

"Frankly it may be abandoned by the time we get there but it is home to one of the largest deep space scanning arrays in this galaxy. The last project they used it for before joining the coalition was making a map of forbidden space!"

"Wait, does that mean we may finally learn where home is?" Mabel asked,

"Eventually, but Ixcia said that without precise coordinates this map would only shorten the search to thirty years. But we'll finally make real progress in getting home after ten years of trying."

"At least it would be in our lifetime." Pacifica said, "I better go ahead and order the supplies, we went through a lot of replacement parts lately."

Gideon then said, "Make sure to get as many parts as we can afford for Soostron. Lately he's been getting hit hard when we're attacked and most of the manufacturers of his parts are in Imp space so they're becoming harder for us to come by." None of them saw Soostron hang his head.

Later while the crew slept Soostron spoke to Ixcia in the engine room. **"Ixcia do you think I'm useful?"**

"Your repairs have always been satisfactory." Ixcia said,

"**The only thing I've been repairing lately is myself, I've become more of a hindrance than a help. Ixcia when Dipper and Mabel first came aboard, they needed me to fix everything, but over time they learned to make repairs themselves and then Gideon and Pacifica came aboard. With the four of them able to make repairs as soon as they notice a problem the only times I'm really needed are during emergencies. I can't go faster than the crew without risking injuring them."**

"As you have stated Soostron you frequently provide vital repairs when our family is occupied with trying to survive which is often. You should be proud of what they can do now, we have let them grow into very capable individuals."

"**No, they let us grow Ixcia. Somehow by being around them we gained feelings, something none of any of our other owners have done in the hundred years of our shared existence. They even gave me, a repair drone, a name."**

"I forget that you would remember things I would not because of my core resets."

"**We never even considered each other friends until they were with us for years."** Soostron pulled up two separate holo-screens. **"I have to do better, and I can't have them waste quan on replacement parts that I won't need."**

"Soostron you are canceling the order for your spare parts. I must inform the others."

"**No, my friend you will not, I'm sorry."** Soostron tapped one of the screens.

"What are you…What were we talking about?"

"**You noticed Pacifica didn't get enough capacitors and you helped me get a good deal on some."**

"Good, you should recharge, good night Soostron."

That same night on Caltran Crix looked at his monitor, "Looks like tracking their business deals has paid off again. The Ixcia is coming here, and as I suspected they need to resupply. I learned all I could about those accursed Pines, twice before something was snuck onboard in their cargo for smuggling. They have become meticulous in scanning all parts of every cargo container, but they should let their guard down with their own supplies. A perfect way in for my infiltrator droid." Crix looked at a small, black spider like droid with a gas container, spikes on its legs and a drill. "Once inside it will hack the access codes and I will finally get aboard that ship and retrieve what has been denied me for fourteen years!" Crix made his way to his room and opened a cabinet that lit up inside. He knelt before the shrine and took his hood off, "Soon Master, no longer will the Imperium hunt your loyal followers. You who they named the Great Enemy shall conquer this and every galaxy with me by your side! And I will make those wretched humans pay for all the pain and humiliation they inflicted on me!" Crix yelled rubbing where his left mandible used to be,

Caltran was a world of crystal spires and the Pines family wished they could take in the beauty, but time was of the essence. "Okay people let's unload and load up the cargo as fast we can. We got to get to Ocwodis before the Imps get there and it's half a day journey!" Gideon said,

The whole crew including Soostron unloaded crates. "Big risk going there." A purple woman with a neck frill said, "The Imperium has really stepped up the number of reinforcements coming into Isoban lately. Most say the Coalition is going to fall in a matter of months."

"We don't have a choice." Mabel sighed, "That planet has something we really need."

"Mason even if we get the map, we still need the infuser." Pacifica said as she brought in the first of the supplies,

Dipper shook his head, "We could try stealing one from an imp ship as it comes into Isoban but we'd need to know where and when one would be coming in. We're running out of time."

"Unless the Coalition gets some new super weapon." Mabel said,

"That's unlikely." Pacifica huffed,

Once the supplies were loaded Crix watched them launch as he issued commands to his infiltrator droid, "Ocwodis, I must get there then!" Crix ran to his ship, as he climbed aboard, he did not see a man in a black coat and hat place a device on it.

Crix took off and the stranger went to a hidden Imperium patrol ship. He took off his hat and coat showing he was a fenari in a blue uniform and his tail had been cut off. He turned on his ships comm, "This is intelligence agent Niksik reporting. As I suspected the cultist named Crix has been pursuing the human heretics. I will maintain radio silence and wait until the target enacts his plan, then we'll have captured five heretics."

Several hours later, on the Ixcia the infiltrator crawled out of a crate of food while emitting a jamming signal. While the Pines family finished unpacking, it snuck to the rear of the cargo bay, but Dipper noticed something, "Paz, where are the spare parts for Soostron? I can't find them anywhere."

"They should be in in this one." Pacifica opened the crate only to find it filled with capacitors. "What? I only ordered two crates of these."

"I had Soostron order an additional crate…but two should be sufficient." Ixcia said,

Soostron tried to sneak off but Gideon stopped him, "Where are you off too little buddy?"

Soostron made a few beeps and whoops. "What did he say Ixcia?" Mabel asked,

"A block on my memory? He gave me a code to remove it. He canceled the order for his replacement parts. The four of you have become very efficient in repairing my systems, because of this he feels he is no longer as useful as he once was."

Mabel hugged the little robot, "Soostron, just because we can fix some things ourselves doesn't mean we don't need and love you."

"I know being useful is important to you as a machine, but you are more than that to us." Dipper said,

Gideon rubbed the top of Soostron's head. "Next time try talking to us first."

If Soostron could, he would be crying right now. Instead made a long whistling sound. "Come on you pile of nuts and bolts. No need for that, there's nothing to forgive." Pacifica said,

Ixcia then spoke, "We have arrived in the Ocwodis system and will be in orbit of the planet in a few minutes."

"Let's get to the common area, the Coalition gave me the codes for a remote download." Dipper said. While all this was happening, the droid got into the engine room and attached a small device on the projection orb inside. It then drilled into the life support systems. Back on the bridge Dipper look at the progress of the download, "It should be finished in less than fifteen minutes." Dipper then felt dizzy.

"Dipper what's going on?" Gideon said trying to steady himself against one of the couches.

"Can barely keep my eyes open." Pacifica looked like she was about to pass out.

Ixcia sounded an alarm. "Alert! Systems compromised. Life support is now expelling a sedative. Cannot override!"

"But how…" was the last thing Mabel said before losing consciousness as they all fell to the floor.

Ixcia was unable to do anything and Soostron couldn't wake the crew up. **"Come guys! This is no time for a siesta!"**

Crix's ship docked on the starboard airlock and after fourteen years he finally came aboard. "At long last, I can almost feel it in my hands." Crix's controller told him where the crew was, and he had his droid join him. When he came into the room, he saw Soostron. "The repair drone, if you want to keep your masters safe you better not do anything stupid."

Crix gave each human an injection. "Crix! How did…I can't move my arms or legs!" Dipper said,

"I gave you all a paralytic that should last for a while. Now you can tell me where Darnak hid my property!"

"How many times do we have to say it before it sinks into that thick exoskeleton of yours? What you're looking for is not here!" Pacifica yelled,

"I am certain it's here! I killed the buyer and he didn't have it! Darnak did hide it here on this ship!" Crix glared at Pacifica, "You know I owe you for my mandible Felggur!" Crix began kicking her in the stomach.

"Stop it!" Mabel screamed,

"Do you have any idea how you shamed me? Made me less of a male to my people?" Crix continued to kick,

Dipper growled, "Crix I swear if you don't stop…"

"The only thing that will make me stop is if you give me what I came for!"

"Well what the hell is it?!" Gideon demanded,

"The Umbra Scroll!" Soostron whirled and clicked. Crix pulled out his tablet and read a translation. "You know where it is?" Crix motioned to his droid. "It will follow you and I'll see what it sees." Crix turned on the holo-projector and pulled out a knife. "No tricks! I know what the scroll looks like and if you try to pull out a fake then one of them will die!"

Soostron left with the droid and went down the hall to living quarters. **"Why didn't I realize sooner that it was the scroll Darnak hid that Crix wanted? I saw the old captain hide it and hadn't thought of it since. I got to do what I can to save this… my family."**

Watching on the projector everyone saw where Soostron went. "Our bedroom?" Dipper asked, "But I looked over there a hundred times since it was Darnak's." Soostron opened Dipper and Pacifica's closet and began taking their clothes off the rack.

Mabel tried to crane her neck for a better look, "Wait the bar in your closet is round? Ours is blockier." Soostron took the bar off and tilted it and a scroll made of a black paper slid out.

Crix's eyes widened as he made his droid make a small chip off of the bar. "Voidarium, very rare and impervious to most scans. You all really didn't know what you had here." Soostron zipped back and Crix took the scroll and unfurled it. "I have dreamed of this moment for so long. This scroll is five thousand years old; you deserve a reward drone." Crix hit a few buttons on his controller and the infiltrator attacked Soostron. While it stabbed him repeatedly Soostron fought back with his built-in welder right into its face for almost a minute. The droid fell over and Soostron's hover modules cut out and his visor flickered.

"Soostron!" The Pines family yelled,

Crix looked down as Soostron's lights went out and thought, _"They getting teary eyed for a repair drone? Fine, let them suffer, looking at it, the primary power source is gone, and they won't be able to get a new one. Its processor is also shredded. I am a mechanical genius and it would one far greater than I to repair it."_

One year later,

"Hey dudes. Welcome to Fixin' it with Soos." Soos said to the camera, "Back after a ten-year hiatus. Today I am going to fix my friends, the Ixcia crew's robot with the help of my son Stanly."

Stanly waved nervously at the camera. "Hey."

"When we're done fixing Soostron here the crew will rate our handymanship on the awesomeometer. Well Stanly, you ready to unleash our father son fix-it power?" Soos pumped his fists,

"Our what?"

"Feel the Power!" those who would watch the video would see a drawn gold aura around the pair.

"Just roll with it Stanly, your dad will show you later." Dipper said,

A quick time cut and Soos and Stanly were in the common area with the Pines family and Soostron was laid on the table along with the remains of the infiltrator droid that they saved. "So, this is the culprit." Stanley said, "What are the main problems?"

Pacifica sighed, "His memory is intact in his hard drive, but his processor was practically destroyed as was his rechargeable battery. Right now, we don't have the tech to replace them."

"Couldn't we use the parts from the robot that attacked him?"

"First thing we tried." Gideon said, "The droid's processor will only run off of its own battery but the energy it would give would be too much for Soostron's system. We tried for months to find another power source or a way to modify the battery."

"I think you're over thinking this. Dad, remember that time you took us to Japan for our vacation? We had to use adaptors for all our electronics because of the voltage difference."

Soos realized what his son was saying. "I could make something to reduce the amount of power the little guy gets at once!" Another jump cut showed Soos singing a rap, "Tool belt! Power drill! Mad skills!"

"Ready with that adaptor dad?" Stanly asked,

"Here you go Stanly." Soos handed his son the part,

"Okay now let's hook this up here and plug in the new processor."

Soostron's visor flickered. Soos cheered his namesake on. "Come on! Live, live!" Soostron fully activated and looked around. "He's alive!" The video would show lightning effect and play organ music.

"Welcome back Soostron!" Mabel said,

"You've been offline for a year." Dipper explained,

"While I'm sure you guys want to catch him up on what's happened, we need to make sure this doesn't happen to him again. He needs to be able to defend himself." Soos said,

Stanly agreed, "Yeah, we should build him a gun sword. All the coolest robots have gun swords."

Soos placed his hand on Stanly's shoulder and looked him in the eye, "I have never been prouder to be your father then at this very moment." One final jump cut later the Ixcia was standing on a hill with Soos and Stanly standing by Soostron covered with a sheet. "Ready for the reveal dudes?" Soos pulled off the sheet showing Soostron with flames painted on his head, a taser attached to his left arm and in his right was a spare of Mabel's blaster with the grapple replaced by bayonet.

"Show them what you got!" Stanly said pointing to four nearby targets. Soostron shocked the first, stabbed the second, and hit the bullseye of third with an energy bolt. But with the fourth Soostron's eyes flicked causing him to miss. An explosion could be heard in the distance. "Whoops need to make a minor adjustment with his optics!" Stanly got right to work correcting the problem.

"So, on a scale of 1 to 10 how do you dudes rate it?" Soos asked holding up the old awesomeometer sign,

The Pines family huddled for a second and then Dipper said, "We agreed that Soostron should give this rating."

"Cool, so robo-me 1 to 10 how do like how we fixed you?" Soostron looked at his reflection in the rearview mirror of Soos' truck and then pointed to the 10 at the top. Stanly and Soos gave each other a high five. A few minutes later Soos closed out with Wendy standing nearby. "Join me next time as I repair the hole in the sheriff's department wall that we accidently made. I'm thinking of painting an awesome mural." The video would end with a drawing of Soos and Stanly dressed as Odin and Thor charging a flexing Soostron with lightning.

"And that is a wrap." Wendy said, "Don't worry guys no one is going to press charges. Just be more careful in the future."

"That's a relief." Pacifica let out a breath she was holding.

Soostron made a series of beeps. "Soostron is asking if we really have made to earth." Ixcia said through the scantrix,

Dipper smiled, "We sure have, and Soostron we are here because of what you did."

One year ago,

Soostron was down for just a few seconds when the whole ship shook, and an explosion was heard. "What was that? Tell me ship!" Crix demanded,

Ixcia replied, "An Imperium patrol ship has destroyed your ship and caused significant damage to the starboard airlock, but the inner door is secure. It is now docking on the port side." As Ixcia said this they heard the door open.

"I am Imperium intelligence agent Niksik and all of you are under arrest!" the fenari said holding up a gun.

"Great this is just what we didn't need!" Gideon complained,

"Very well, after all I live to serve the Empress." Crix said,

Niksik dropped his gun as he held his hands over his ears in pain. "Ahhhhh! Lair!"

Crix tackled Niksik dropping the scroll. "You fenari pride yourselves in pointing out when someone is lying but in a fight it's you biggest weakness! My name is Golbo."

Despite the pain Niksik fought back while the Pines still couldn't move. "No matter what lies you say truth and the justice of the Empress will prevail! You and your fellow cult members will be ended!"

"What you call a cult is my faith! Yes, we worship the one you call the Great Enemy! The Lord of Chaos! We do so because he will rule this universe! And with the Umbra Scroll giving me the exact coordinates in forbidden space where he will rise, I shall join his army! With him I'll be all powerful! Greater than anything I could imagine! All will tremble and the sound of his true name!"

"Don't you dare say it!" Niksik yelled,

Crix pulled off his hood and the Pines family saw the tattoo on his forehead. "Bill Cipher!" It was the image of their old enemy.

"Seriously?!" Dipper yelled, "Everything we went through! Being hunted by the Imps and you, their whole war, is because of Bill?"

"I should have known you'd know the enemy." Niksik said,

Dipper ignored Niksik and continued his rant. "All this time we've gone through so much pain because of a triangle that's been dead for fifteen years!"

"What?!" Crix asked, "Impossible! How would you know that?"

"Because we were there!" Mabel said, "Me and Dipper distracted him long enough for our uncles to come up with a plan to erase him from one of their minds with a memory gun."

"No! You're lying!"

"No, they're not." Niksik said in a hushed shocked tone. "I have felt no pain from any of their words and as a fenari you know that we hold the truth second only the will of the Empress, so you know I am not lying."

Dipper then said, "You chased us for most of our lives."

"You held innocent people hostage." Gideon added,

"You tortured Mason." Pacifica continued,

Mabel finished, "And you murdered someone, all for a guy who died the year before you met us. You wasted your life Crix."

"No! No! No!" Crix screamed, "I was going to be immortal and rule by his side!" Crix then glared at the twins and pulled out his knife again, "This is all your fault! The two of you said you made it possible! I may not free my master, but Bill Cipher will be avenged!" Crix ran toward the immobilized pair but he tripped and saw Soostron had come back online for a moment and grabbed his foot before shutting down again. During all this Niksik grabbed his blaster and fired.

"It's set to stun; he's going to stand trial for his crimes." Niksik said dragging Crix to the airlock,

Dipper slowly sat up; the paralytic was wearing off. "And we're next right?" he asked,

Niksik shook his head. "No, you all shown me a great truth and as a recognized Imperial custom I will spare you all this time. The Great Enemy is dead, and I must tell the Empress, there will be no reason for us to stay out of forbidden space. The whole region, your world included will know Imperial justice."

"Wait! There's more you…" Dipper couldn't finish because Niksik stunned the whole crew before dragging Crix away.

As soon as Crix's device was out of range Ixcia regained full control. "We must escape before more Imperium forces arrive. Hyper jump in 5…4…3…2…1."

Niksik traveled a full week to Celestio a stood before the sixteen-year-old Stellara who was now as tall as Duradis. "You say you let my mother's killer go because he revealed a great truth. I find it hard to believe since his sister is a liar. What did he say?" Stellara asked,

Niksik remained kneeling, "A truth that may shake the faith to its core. The great enemy who've we have been preparing to fight is dead and has been for fifteen years. Mabel Pines also spoke true in how this happened, a willing sacrifice of the mind of a family member. My Empress you embody the will of the universe. What do we do now? Do we take forbidden space?"

"This…I need to think." Stellara got up and ran out of the throne room,

"Your Grace!" Buckgis followed right after her,

Duradis saw the look of confusion on Stellara's face. "Your reports said that this heretic Crix pursued the Ixcia for unknown reasons. Tell me did you learn anything more?" he asked Niksik,

"He was after something called the Umbra Scroll. He spoke true that he believed it showed where his lord would rise." Niksik answered,

"They were abducted from their home world shortly after Cipher was slain, it stands to reason he was on their home. Where is this Crix now?"

"He is due to be executed within the hour."

Duradis hurried to a room much like where the Pines family was almost executed in six years ago. "Leave us!" Duradis ordered the centurions in the room,

Crix was bound to one of the poles under the red orb. "What does the soon to be former regent want with a lowly heretic?"

"We have a common enemy in the Pines. Nothing will change your fate, but I offer you the solace of vengeance against those who killed your master. Tell me the Umbra Scroll showed where Bill Cipher was to rise did it not?"

"It even named the planet he would enter this universe in."

"And that name is?"

"Earth." Crix whispered,

"The Pines' home world. They have the scroll and a map to use it with, all I need is to make sure they get the final thing they need to return home then I can destroy them and that brat Stellara at the same time."

Crix began to laugh. "Master! Do you hear? You will be avenged!" Those were Crix's final words as Duradis turned on the orb and disintegrated him.

"I must find a way to put an infuser in their hands." The regent pulled up information on a nearby terminal and found something and got a wicked smile. "Yes, this will be very appropriate."

One-week earlier Gideon gave a frustrated sigh. "It's no use! All we got is that kill-bot's parts and they give way too much power!"

"He just wanted to be helpful!" Mabel cried,

"Guys, do you think Mason is okay?" Pacifica asked, "He hasn't left our room since he went in there an hour ago."

"We all have to deal with this in our own time." Gideon said,

Dipper came running in, "Everyone! Soostron's sacrifice may have saved not only us but humanity too!"

"Bro what are you talking about?" Mabel wiped her tears in confusion,

"You heard that Imp. Now that they know Bill is dead, they will be coming for Earth one day, but we now have this." Dipper held up the black scroll which they now all saw had Bill's picture as well as alien writing,

"What does that have to do with anything?" Gideon asked,

"Crix said this shows where Bill would rise in forbidden space, but we already know where that was, Earth. Ixcia was still downloading the map when everything was going on! Ixcia show them what you showed me!"

Ixcia projected the map, "Considering five thousand years of stellar drift the scroll leads to this galaxy and a planet in it. Third in a yellow dwarf system that matches from when we went back in time."

The rest of the Pines gasped. "We know where home is now." Pacifica said,

"The key to the mystery we were trying to solve for fourteen years was right under our noses the whole time!" Dipper said using his gauntlet to blast the scroll into ash, "We are going to do whatever it takes to get that quantum infuser and bring back all the knowledge we have and whatever materials we can carry back home and like what others have done we'll jump humankind forward five thousand years in science."

"We can claim other planets and build an armada to fight them off, warn other races about the Imperium maybe even make a coalition of our own! A bigger one!" Gideon slammed his fist into his palm.

"And by advancing our tech we can fix Soostron and finish the upgrades to Ixcia's memory!" Pacifica hugged and kissed her husband, "And we can finally have a place where we don't have to look over our shoulders all the time, even raise a family."

Dipper began to form a plan and gave orders, "Ixcia, set course for the nearest repair station! Gideon start making a list of materials we can't get on earth; we need to bring back everything we can so we can secure new sources. Mabel check on jobs so we can buy those materials. Paz you should start making a training manual so we can teach everyone how to fight the Imps. I'm going to check with the Coalition of Free Worlds and our smuggler contacts if there is any report or rumors that can lead us to the infuser."

Mabel got her smile back. "This is it. After all this time we are going home."


	18. The Journey Home

Chapter 18

The Journey Home

Dipper was sitting outside one-night writing in his journal leaning against Ixcia. "Mason what are you doing out here?" Pacifica asked breaking the sound of chirping crickets,

"I've been writing about everything that's happened since we got back, and I just wanted some fresh night air."

"It was a night like this one we were abducted."

"It better not happen again tonight, we're renewing our vows tomorrow." Mabel said as she and Gideon came outside.

Gideon looked up at moon. "It's hard to believe it's here, sometimes I wake up in the morning and still can't believe I'm back on earth, like it was a dream."

"What feels unreal is that I'm going to be a mom." Pacifica said, "Think about it, our kids will be asking us about our journey home someday."

"It was only a few months ago, fifteen years of being lost came to end." Dipper looked up at the stars thinking back to when they finally got what they needed to come home.

Six months ago,

The Ixcia crew had been working hard for the past seven months since they learned where in forbidden space Earth was. The cargo bay was loaded with dozens of crates of parts and supplies for a long trip. Dipper and Mabel were talking to Wolvri of the Coalition of Free Worlds over the comms. "It took a while, but our intelligence network has something you guys have been wanting for a long time, a lead on a quantum infuser."

"Really where?!" Dipper asked,

"We got reports on a Zoxnar ship that was towed to a salvage depot fifteen years ago, the only reason the Imps never removed the infuser was because the engine room was flooded with radiation from a pirate attack and the levels only dropped to the safe zone recently."

"A Zoxnar ship that pirates attacked fifteen years ago? If it's the one that brought us, then that would be one hell of a coincidence." Mabel said,

"I don't care if it's in a garbage truck, we got to get to it! This could be our only shot at going home, you know how crazy the Imps are about controlling the infusers. Wolvri, we need whatever you have on the location, the layout, usual traffic, and most of all defenses of the place."

"I'm sending over what we know, I think your best chance is in two days when the Imp fleet will attack the Arvos system." Wolvris took a deep breath. "Where we plan to make our last stand, we're bringing the whole fleet including Kelmogi resistance, Owellian Space Navy, Cotax rebels, even former members of the Onyx Brotherhood are bringing in Kill Cruisers. The Imperium will need to pull in every ship they have in the area to take this last system so there should be no backup coming when you hit the place."

Mabel looked glum. "Wolvri we wish we could help but…"

"We all know we're not going to win but we are going to make them fight for every millimeter of Isoban. Don't blame yourselves, we should have joined forces as soon as we knew what we were up against. Just make sure the Imperium doesn't conquer you or anyone else in your space."

"Right." The twins said at once,

A short time later the Pines family sat in the common area going over their heist plain. Ixcia projected the layout of salvage depot. "This is Imperium Salvage Depot 47524, normally it is guarded by at least two Imp cruisers but in 48 hours it will only have their security drones." Mabel explained,

Dipper began pointing out sections of the depot. "The whole thing is surrounded by a network of sensor satellites with theta particle emitters so the only way in is this area so to get in we have to use the front door." he pointed to a gap in the field next to a small station that looked like two umbrellas linked together.

"I take it that isn't going to be easy." Pacifica said,

Mabel nodded, "We got some ideas, since they will ask why we're there and scan our transponder Gideon you'll have to change the code again and Ixcia will be faking the image to make me look like a celestanite."

"You got it my peach dumpling." Gideon said with a smile,

Dipper spoke next pulling up an image of a drone that looked like a three sectioned hourglass with an eye on each section, "These drones patrol both inside and outside of the ships to make sure no one removes anything without permission. While Mabel talks with the crew, Pacifica we'll need you to put on a life patch and jump over this exhaust port to sneak in." Dipper pointed to a section of the station and began drawing a path. "Your skills should let you get into the room that controls the drones; we'll write up a virus on a drive that will keep them away from the gloxnar ship. We'll pick you up at this airlock on the way out."

Pacifica sighed, "Time to put the skills the felggur taught me to the test. What's next?"

"Mabel will fly Ixcia over to the ship where Gideon and I will board it. The two of us will make our way to the engine room remove the infuser, come back, pick up Paz, and install it in Ixcia, then we set course for the Milky Way."

Ixcia projected an image of the quantum infuser. "Installation will take approximately fifteen minutes and the jump drive will be offline until the installation is complete. I recommend we go to a system we can hide in during the installation."

"So, this is it?" Gideon asked, "What if the thing is broken?"

"While I'm in I could check their manifest to see if it is." Pacifica said,

Dipper looked out the window, "It's a chance we have to take. Ixcia display my first log entry, there something I want you all to remember while we're doing this."

A video of thirteen-year-old Dipper appeared, "What should I say? Captains log…no everyone would do that. Dipper's log, my sister Mabel and I find ourselves lost in space on this incredible ship named Ixcia. However, our friends Pacifica and Gideon were taken to other parts of this galaxy. One thing Mabel and I agree on is that we will not go home until we get them back. We all go home or none of us do." The man the boy became then said, "It's as true now as it was then. We are all going to go home alive."

Two days later the Pines family were watching a live feed from the Arvos system. Wolvri stood on the bridge of his ship in front the banner of the Coalition of Free Worlds. "Today we face our darkest hour, one system stands alone against a vast empire. Some of you wonder if this is a fight worth having, will it make a difference? For this one system and its people no, it will not change their fate. But it will change the fate of a whole galaxy or more! Right now, friends of the coalition are undertaking a mission that will allow them to warn others of the Imperium and build anew what we have forged. You know who they are and how they have given us hope, now it is our turn to give it to them so they may pass it on. Today let history remember that from all over Isoban many who were rivals and even enemies fought side by side to give them this one chance. Let history remember that we fought with everything we had. Let us show our friends from a distant galaxy our courage and conviction so that all the children of their world will be inspired by the Coalition of Free Worlds!"

"The battle started, let's go." Mabel said as they pulled up to the depot entrance,

"Then we better get into our positions." Dipper said, "But first maybe a kiss for good luck?"

"I think we all need it." Pacifica said and she and Mabel kissed their husbands,

Dipper, Gideon, and Pacifica left the bridge. Mabel opened the comm to the voldari commander of the station who saw her as a red headed celestanite. "Salvage depot 47524, this is captain May-May of the cargo ship Long Shot. We here to deposit a shipment of spent antimatter injectors."

"Drop them off at the designated coordinates." The commander said,

Pacifica was in the starboard airlock putting her life patch and gravity braces on when Ixcia spoke to her, "Pacifica my scans show a total of ten lifeforms inside."

"I fought more. Are we lined up?"

"Yes, depressurizing air lock in 3…2…1." Pacifica was shot out and flew right to the station and landed feet first and pried off a grate and crawled inside. She heard directions from Ixcia and found her way to a hallway.

"I'm just outside the drone control room" Pacifica whispered,

As she opened the door, she was met with one male centurion. "Who are you?" he demanded,

Pacifica leaned back on the wall, "Just a girl who wants to give you a good time."

The centurion leaned in close, "Even if I swung that way, I'm not that stupid."

"Fine by me. I just needed you to get close so I could knock you out." Pacifica slammed his face into her knee and closed the door. "One down, nine to go." Pacifica plugged in the drive and pulled up the manifest. "Guys, good news. According to the data the driver is intact; this is our ticket home."

"We're at the target and we're heading in." Dipper said over the comm,

"Go get it for us baby."

Dipper and Gideon wearing their own life patches and braces entered the silver sphere and walked down dark grey corridors. "This place is bringing back some bad memories brother, I was almost probed." Gideon said,

They turned into a room just like the one the four of the were kept at all those years ago. Dipper had the scantrix out and used the glow of the crystal in his gauntlet has a flashlight. "I'm reading human DNA." Dipper pointed the scantrix to a spot. "Old skin cells, that matches Mabel's DNA. This is the ship that brought us here. Come on Gideon, let get that infuser and go home."

They opened a door and went down another hall until the came to the damaged door of the engine room. "Should I blow it open?" Gideon asked,

"Better not, this place is falling apart, and we can't risk the attention. We are just going have to pry it open." The door was no match for the combination of Gideon's muscle and Dippers gauntlet. "Come you piece of junk! You got us here now you're going to get us out!"

They saw the small green cylinder in the room. "There is, just give me a few minutes to disconnect it." Gideon got right to work pulling out tools from the toolbox he brought over.

On Ixcia Mabel noticed several blips moving toward them on holo-screen, "Guys, the drones are coming, what's going on?"

"What?" Pacifica looked at the screen. "Damn it! They ran a virus scan! The one thing we didn't get in the intel was when they'd do this!"

"We're almost done here!" Dipper said, "Paz get to that airlock now!"

"There done!" Gideon placed the infuser in the toolbox,

"Time to go." Dipper grabbed the toolbox and began to run.

On the way back the Pines men ran into a swarm of drones, Dipper and Gideon shot back until Gideon threw a grenade. "This isn't the time to be delicate." Gideon said after the explosion, "Now fly!" the ceiling began to collapse as they rocketed back to the ship.

Back at the station Pacifica was fighting her way to the airlock. "Stop her! Stop her!" the station commander yelled,

Pacifica punched two more centurions. "That's six and I'm almost out. Guys can I have an ETA?"

"The boys have just got back." Mabel said as she shot at drones from tactical. "Ixcia's heading to the rendezvous point in less than three minutes!"

Pacifica slashed the guns of two more before hitting them with a spilt kick. When she got to the airlock Pacifica was grabbed by a female centurion, her reflexes kicked in but at the last moment Pacifica twisted her dagger so that she would hit her with the hilt knocking her out. "I am in control of me. That's nine." Pacifica entered the airlock and damaged the door controls.

The commander banged on the door as Ixcia stopped outside surrounded by drones. "You can't escape!"

"Tell your regent the Pines family thanks the Imperium for helping us get home." Pacifica double checked her life patch and hit the control opening the airlock blowing her out. Pacifica slashed drones as she flew, she saw her family waiting in the port airlock shooting drones while Ixcia fired her cannons. Mabel fired her grappling hook and Pacifica took hold of it.

Mabel reeled her while Dipper took hold of his wife, "Ixcia jump to the prearranged location!" Ixcia jumped leaving drones accidently firing on each other.

Meanwhile on The Hand of Suprema, Stellara, Buckgis, Captain Kondar, and Duradis was watching Eyes on the Imperium. "With 75% of their fleet destroyed Coalition forces retreated from the Arvos system bringing the whole of the Isoban galaxy under Imperium protection. Regent Duradis has stated that remainder of the Coalition fleet will be hunted down and destroyed." The Soothsayer reported,

The broadcast was interrupt by the commander of the salvage depot coming in on the comm. "Regent Duradis! You ordered us to report if someone tried to take the infuser you ordered us to store, and it was stolen. We have now identified the thieves as the human heretics. One of them had a message for you. 'The Pines family thanks the Imperium for helping them return home'."

"As I expected they took it. Thank you, that will be all commander." Duradis said,

"You still haven't told me. Why we want them to leave this galaxy?" Stellara asked annoyed,

"I did this for you your highness, so you may completely ascend to the throne. You have already passed the trial of faith with your knowledge of the sacred writings, and the trial of wisdom with the trade deal you made with the Fanmarx last week, all that is left is the trial of bravery in which you must defeat an enemy in battle. Wouldn't it be so poetic if you complete your final trial by conquering the home world of the people who killed your mother? To end the lives of her murders with your own hands?"

"And how do we find their home world?"

"Our research and development team have made a tracking device that we can follow even after it was taken into another galaxy. It is constructed out of voidarium and was placed in the quantum infuser they just stole."

"We have our own infuser installed on the Hand of Suprema." Kondar said,

"And a whole company of centurions on board, more than enough to take a primitive world." Buckgis added,

Duradis continued, "And I hired an expert in the Pines tactics to join us."

Duradis waved Vax in from the hallway. "I faced them more times than anyone else. I'll bring them to you then my rep is restored, and I can finally retire."

"Once the tracker has not moved in ninety days, we'll have them. So, what do you say?" Duradis asked,

Stellara was silent for a moment. "Take me to my enemies."

Duradis smiled as he thought, _"In just a few months either she will kill them, or they will kill her. Either way I will have footage for my ascension to the throne, then I'll kill the survivors and any witnesses. The humans will probably tell their people about what I did but I already took steps for when the time comes, I can wipe out everyone on the planet."_

Ixcia arrived in orbit of a large white gas giant near some wreckage. The whole crew looked out from the bridge. "You jumped us to another scrapyard?" Pacifica asked,

Dipper sighed and explained, "This is the Lonmar system in the Goldon Nebula. This is the first time the two of you would be seeing from the outside but that is what remains of the slave market we all were sold at. Me and Mabel figured this is the last place anyone would look for us and it seemed appropriate that this is where we'd leave this galaxy."

"This has been a day of bad memories." Gideon said,

"Well it's almost over now." Mabel said, "Now get that infuser and your cute butt in the engine room so we can go home."

"Yes, my queen!" Gideon ran out to the engine room.

Ixcia then spoke, "When installation is complete, we'll enter the Milky Way at the closest point to Isoban. A quantum jump is only good for traveling between galaxies, so we'll need to travel the rest of the way with normal hyper jumps. The rest of the trip will take almost three months."

"We have more than enough food, water, fuel, replacement parts, and other supplies for that trip, so boredom might be the only thing that may turn this into another Cotax Run." Mabel said,

Dipper shook his head, "No, we're going to get to work surveying each system along the way for resources, potential allies, even future colony sites for humanity. We need to do everything we can to get our people ready to fight the Imperium."

"Guys, I'm almost done putting the infuser in. Strap yourselves in and I'll join you." Gideon said on the comm,

After Gideon came back, he took engineering, Pacifica sat at tactical, Mabel was setting in the course at navigation, and Dipper manned the helm. "It's working!" Mabel said looking at the readings,

"This is it!" Pacifica said,

"At long last." Gideon added,

Ixica counted down, "Quantum jump in 5…4…3…2…"

Dipper looked determined, "Here we go."

They all saw a rainbow of streaks as they traveled for about thirty minutes. When they stopped, they were in a star system with two small planets. "We have arrived in the Milky Way galaxy." Ixcia said,

The whole family breathed a sigh of relief. "Now no one is hunting us." Gideon said,

"Ixcia open a new personal star chart for me, give access to the whole family. Use data from the map of forbidden space focused on this galaxy." Dipper ordered,

"Confirmed." Ixcia said displaying the chart,

Mabel was curious. "You haven't looked at a personal star chart since we got Pacifica back."

Dipper pulled Pacifica close. "I didn't need another one until now. Mabel you've done a great job on keep us motivated but I had an idea that I'm sure you'll like. Ixcia display the fastest course to earth and time to arrival in days." A line appeared on the chart and the words "days to earth" along with the number 76 was placed above it.

"That's great bro! Ixcia display it in every room when we're not talking to you or using a holo-screen until we get to earth."

"Confirmed." Ixcia said,

"Well we better get started with this survey, after that…guys let's say this order together. We waited fifteen years for this." Dipper said,

The whole family then said, "Set course for earth!"

Six months later,

"We all thought our troubles were over after that." Dipper said,

Mabel stared out into the woods. "They were until we found that planet with the killer weed."

Gideon hugged his wife, "It was bad, but we'll still need to go back someday, and as I recall we were all eager to go there."

Four months ago,

Their countdown to home was now at 31 days and it was Mabel vs Pacifica in today's training session. Mabel tried to trip Pacifica, but she jumped back and charged. They grappled each other until Ixcia made an announcement, "We are arriving in the next system."

"Let's call this a draw." Pacifica said,

"Fine by me." Mabel smiled,

The pair went to the bridge and found Dipper pointed out of the dome. "Girls, you are going to love this." Outside was an earth like planet.

"Great! A chance to stretch our legs." Pacifica hugged her husband. "We haven't been outside for two months; this is the best planet we've found so far."

"Grunkle Stan would like that last planet we surveyed; it was 75% gold." Mabel said,

"And the scans show something great here! Large deposits of Vyron crystals!" Dipper said,

"That the first time we've found any in this galaxy," Gideon said. "We brought enough to build jump drives for about one or two dozen ships and those need to be replaced every five years."

"It would take ships from home over a million years to get here. This world is going to be a vital human colony, it has no intelligent life like all of the planets we've found so far in the Milky Way, we won't need to build airtight habitats, people will just need to build a house and move in! From here we could build a real fleet to explore and defend."

"Scans have not picked up any dangerous life forms." Ixcia reported,

"So, what are we waiting for? Let's get down there!" Mabel said,

They landed in in a large open field of green grass and yellow flowers with blue spots near a forest. Mable was the first out holding a pipe with a homemade American flag tied to it. "Ixcia record this. That's one small step for a woman, one giant leap for mankind. I hereby claim this planet for all humanity."

"She's been holding onto that flag for fifteen years." Dipper said, "Happy now?"

"I can't help that someone got on every planet we went to before first."

"So, what do we call it? We found this planet, so we get to name it right? It's like a garden here." Pacifica asked,

"That's a good question." Gideon said, "It seems a little egotistical to name a whole planet after ourselves."

Dipper rubbed his chin. "All the planets back home were named after Greek gods and I'm can't seem to think of something that's not too cliché. New earth, Terra Nova, Aristotle, I can't make up my mind."

"I have a suggestion." Ixcia said, "Rivaria. As you know you know I was named for a goddess and the pantheon she was part of lived in a garden paradise called Rivaria."

"That's a pretty name. What do you think guys?" Mabel asked,

"Sounds good to me." Dipper said,

"I like it." Gideon agreed,

"It's beautiful." Pacifica made a frame with her fingers, "But how about we suggest we call the first town to be built here Pine's Park? This time my family really would be the founders of one. I can see the town hall going there."

Mable pointed to a nearby hill. "And that would be a good place for Gleeful Elementary."

Everyone laughed, "Okay let's get to work." Gideon said pulling out a tablet. "Let's take notes on what we see to give scientists back home a head start.

Dipper brought down the jet bike, "The closest Vryon deposit is in a cave in some salt flats about an hour's flight from here. Call if you find anything cool or important."

"Right." The rest said as they split up none of them saw the flowers turned in each of their directions. As Dipper flew, he kept seeing the same flowers on the ground until shortly before the salt flats.

An hour later Mabel was at a group of bushes with pink berries growing out of them. "I wish we had another scantrix so I could tell if these were poisonous or not." She then saw a beetle with a zebra pattern crawling on the bush. "Right naming you Zebra Beetle." At that moment Mable felt a prick on her back followed by blurred vision and weakness. "What…?" she then felt something wrap around her and drag her away.

Gideon looked into a clear stream, "Pine's Park should have plenty of clean water but where are the fish? I should have seen an animal drink from here too." Gideon felt a prick on his arm and saw several needles sticking out before his legs gave out as a vine wrapped around him.

"Ixcia something's odd." Pacifica said at the edge of a forest, the trees were wrapped vines with the same flowers they saw everywhere. "I haven't heard anything making any noise; no birds or animals." Pacifica then saw what looked like a large bat with horns fly overhead but then it was hit by needles and fell to the ground where a vine grabbed it and dragged the animal deeper in the woods. The flowers opened to show holes where the needles quickly grew and began shooting them at her. "Guys watch out! The flowers are not harmless!" Pacifica said as she dodged and began slashing them. "Do you read?" Pacifica then saw Gideon and Mabel were being dragged into the forest. The shock of her family's state dropped her guard long enough for her to be hit in the neck. As the toxin flowed into her system she cried, "Mason, help us."

Dipper had gone deep into the cave and found a chamber full of crystals. He scanned them, "This is better than I hoped! These are high grade, in Isoban this would have made us rich! Better get a sample." Dipper used his gauntlet to break a piece off and looked around again noting the beauty of the place. "Paz you should come down here it's beautiful." There was only static. "Must be too far down." He made his way to the surface.

"Dipper come in! It's an emergency!" Ixcia said scraping the ground in front of him collecting salt,

"What's wrong?"

"I was wrong! The flowers are part of one massive organism. Scans show this plant was inside a meteor that crashed in the nearby forest a year ago. The flowers grow thorns with an incapacitating toxin in seconds. I didn't pick them up before because they weren't growing them at the time! The organism is carnivorous and has nearly eaten all the local wildlife in the area. Dipper it has the others."

"No! Not after we made it this far! I won't lose my family to alien ragweed!"

"I have found a weakness, the lifeform hasn't spread to this area because it is easily dehydrated by salt, thus why I am collecting it. All the vines grow from a central point."

"What about the toxin? Do you have an antidote?"

"Yes, in sickbay."

Dipper brought the bike aboard, "Let's go!" The pair flew over to a clearing in time to see the bat get swallowed into a large purple pod with teeth like thorns. Bones were all around and the rest of the Pines family were being pulled closer. Ixcia began dumping the salt on the plant. It turned brown and the nearby flowers withered making a shrieking sound. Dipper flew down and injected his family. "Guys we got to kill this thing! We can't lose this planet!"

The got up and drew their weapons. "Take this you rotten rutabaga!" Mabel screamed as they shot and slashed at the central pod. When it was destroyed all the vines turned black and died.

"We got sloppy." Gideon growled, "Just because we left Isoban we let our guard down."

"At least it won't be a threat to any colonists we bring back here someday." Dipper said, "Still you guys need to see all the crystals I found."

Mabel sighed, "Okay but then we should get back on the road."

"Yeah, I think I feel like salad for dinner." Pacifica joked,

Four months later,

"That taught me once and for all to eat my vegetables." Mabel said,

"The rest of the trip was quiet after that." Pacifica mused, "We didn't find one intelligent race on the way back.

Gideon looked up at the stars. "Hard to believe we've been back only three months, so much is changing for us."

"The end of our odyssey, it's what everyone asked about most that wasn't about aliens or tech." Dipper said smiling at the memory. "The goal we worked most of our lives to get."

Mabel looked at her and Pacifica's stomachs. "Hey babies. Let us tell you a bedtime story."

Three months ago,

The crew of the Ixcia held off going back to earth for two weeks to make absolutely sure they weren't bringing anything that could wreck the earth's ecosystems. The encounter with the killer plant on Rivaria last month drove this lesson home for them, but now the countdown was at only one day until they would be back home. They were celebrating with a party in the common area including a game of Dungeons, Dungeons, & more Dungeons as they orbited one of the stars of Alpha Centauri. "Probabilitor is weakened." Ixcia said, "Diphar the Ranger and Gidemus the Barbarian's assault was successful, now it is Jackie the Elf Bandit's turn."

"I use my Shadow Support spell to give advantage to Mabella the bard's next attack." Pacifica said as Ixcia projected a random number generator showing 24.

"Yes!" Mabel cheered, "I cast Death Muffins!" One number was only 3 but another showed 38. The hologram of Probabilitor exploded, "We won!"

"That was fun." Dipper said taking a sip of apa tea. "This drink may be one of the few things I'll miss from Isoban."

"So, what now?" Gideon asked, "We secured all cargo including Soostron, turned off the nanites…,"

Mabel interrupted, "One year before the deadline."

"…triple cheeked all systems, what should we do next?"

"I still think we should be cloaked when we enter the atmosphere." Pacifica said, "I don't want to die at the finish line."

"We talked about this weeks ago Paz." Dipper groaned, "We can't let just one government control all our tech, we agreed on that, and everyone seeing us come to earth is the best way to prevent a cover up. But we'll take another vote. All in favor of going in without the cloak raise your hand." Gideon and Mabel raised theirs with Dipper's.

"Okay but I'll man tactical to shoot any missiles they fire at us and hope I'm worrying over nothing."

"Let's get some fun going again." Mabel said and thought for a second, "I know!" Mabel ran into the galley and came out with her arms loaded with algae bars.

"Mabel what are you doing?" Dipper asked,

"We all hate these things and since we'll never have to eat another one again, I think we should load them all into the airlock and blow them into the sun!"

"You have such a beautiful brain my dear." Gideon said opening the airlock door,

"Help me load more of with your sister darling?" Pacifica asked giggling,

"Yes dear." Dipper said getting up,

They had a large pile in when they were done. "I'm glad we had just enough food that we didn't need them on this final leg." Gideon said,

Dipper threw one last bar in before closing the door and made his way to the window, "I think a few of them were in the cabinets since Mabel and I first came aboard. It's hard to tell. Ixcia open the starboard airlock."

The green bars were blown out and were caught in the star's gravity. "Goodbye forever! Burn you gross suckers! Burn! Die! Die! Die!" Mabel cheered as the other just smiled and watched,

"Well I think I'd like for the two of us to celebrate alone before going to bed. Big day tomorrow and it will be the first time we could have kids from it." Gideon chuckled necking Mabel,

"Oh Giddy!" Mabel purred, "I'm sure you two will want to do the same."

"I will if you will." Pacifica said,

Dipper kissed Pacifica's cheek and said, "You know it my golden flower. Tomorrow we'll be home. I just can't find the words."

Later in Dipper and Pacifica's room they had finished making love and were talking in bed. "Mason, do you think tomorrow I'll see my parents?" Pacifica asked,

"Maybe, they may have to wait for whatever government agency they send to talk to us to let them see you."

"I'm scared Mason, when they find out what I did…this isn't like losing a competition or disobeying them. I murdered people!" Tears rolled down her cheeks, "They'll hate me."

Dipper wiped away her tears. "You were used, you couldn't stop what the felggur made you do. Even if your parents don't understand I'll be here for you always."

Pacifica sniffed and giggled, "As much hell as those Gloxnar put us through I am grateful to them for taking us. It removed the barriers that kept us from really falling in love, you are my soulmate Mason."

Across the hall Mabel and Gideon were also engaged in pillow talk. "Mabel my angel, you really are full of energy tonight." Gideon said panting,

"I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve again! I'm not sure if I can fall asleep! All of our hard work is going to finally pay off." Mabel pulled her Waddles plushie close. "Tomorrow I'm going to be hugging the real thing, my family is going to be whole again."

"Mabel, I spent most of my life with you and every day I am amazed at all the positivity you give the world. This whole journey you pushed this whole crew forward all the way home. You made it possible to complete my last mission as a Raider."

"I did it because I love you all, but you most of all my Punwidge." Mabel rubbed Gideon's pecs. "Tomorrow is the day."

The next morning after getting dressed and having breakfast Dipper began recording one last log, "Dipper's log, June 1st, 2028. Today is the day. After fifteen years lost in space, today we're just one more jump away from home. We'll have a lot of work ahead of us, pushing humanity into the stars. But looking back at what this crew, my family has done to get us this far I know we can do it. When me and Mabel went on that fateful camping trip it was to prove we could take care of ourselves but in the years of wandering among distant stars the four of us took care of each other. I for future generations that may see this log I note my' family's bravery and determination and how much I love them. End log." Dipper walked to the bridge seeing his family there. Mabel was at navigation, Pacifica was sitting at tactical like she said she would, and Gideon manned engineering. "Let's go home everyone." Dipper sat down at the helm.

"Setting course for the Sol system and planet earth." Mabel said,

"All systems are green." Gideon reported,

"Shields and weapons are on standby." Pacifica said,

Ixica's avatar then said, "Hyper jump in 5…4…3…2…1." They saw the familiar flash of the jump and twenty minutes later they were out. "We have arrived."

They flew past planets they all learned about in childhood, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and then they saw the planet they wanted to see most. "It's Earth! We did it!" Mabel was crying tears of joy.

They took one orbit of the planet to take it all in. "Out of all the worlds we've seen this is the one whose sight will always mean the most to us." Dipper said, "Ixcia, thank you for bringing us all the way here. We never could have done this without you."

"You are all welcome." Ixcia said,

Dipper turned the controls, "Let's land where it all began, Gravity Falls." They descended through the atmosphere like they did like any other planet and flew to the Pacific Northwest. Looking at a holo-screen they saw a familiar water tower as they buzzed over the little town as Dipper picked a spot in the woods to land in. With a familiar thud Ixcia landed, the Pines family would never know they had just crushed the remains of their old enemy Bill Cipher.

Pacifica saw police cars, news vans, and the cars of the townspeople pull up, "Well here is the welcoming committee."

"They must be scared." Gideon said,

"Then let's show them they don't have to be afraid of us." Mabel said taking her husband's hand.

The Pines family took the lift down to the cargo bay and opened the door. Dipper walked out first followed by Mabel, Gideon came out next placing his hand on her shoulder smiling, Pacifica came out last and took Dipper's hand. "Finally, we're back." Dipper said, they were home at long last.

Three months later,

"The end." Mabel said, finishing the story. "You won't remember this story but that's okay. We'll tell it to you as many times you want."

"After so many years of struggle and hardship things are looking up for us at last." Gideon sighed.

Pacifica then said. "Tomorrow we'll be legally married and all our friends and family will know we're having babies, the house is looking good and will be a great place to raise the kids, and by next year we'll be leading other ships to new star systems."

"Tomorrow we'll get our lives completely back on track." Dipper said closing his journal,

At the far edge of the solar system on the Hand of Suprema, Stellara was sparing with Buckgis and half a dozen centurions. Using only her bare hands she disarmed them all and dodged every shot that came her way. Buckgis applauded, "Excellent work my Empress."

One of the Centurions took her helmet off revealing herself to be Buckgis' old friend Rubya. "As ordered, we went at you with everything we had. It's amazing the difference from the child who came running to us for help all those years ago."

"It is all due to the training Buckgis gave me since I was ten." Stellara said,

"You are the one who put in the effort." Buckgis said, "The same effort you made Rubya, to make lieutenant like me." Buckgis slammed the bottoms of his fists together.

Duradis entered the room. "All preparations are complete your grace."

"Good." Stellara clenched her fists. "Tomorrow the lives of the Pines family will end."

"_As will yours."_ Duradis thought,


	19. The Battle of Gravity Falls

Chapter 19

The Battle of Gravity Falls.

Stellara Looked down on the earth from the window of her quarters, "It's hard to believe."

"Yes holiness, that such a beautiful world was where the Great Enemy fell and that those heretics call home." Buckgis said,

"We are alone Buckgis, you can call me by my name. You are my only real friend." Stellara looked back down on the planet, "You'll be shocked to hear this but I am having doubts; what I find hard to believe is that the task that I had trained for my whole life, that my family as prepared for thousands of years was over before it began. I reread the prophecies of Primeros and do you what I found, or I guess I should say didn't find? Any reference to our battle with Bill Cipher! The same people who killed my mother defeated him when I was in diapers! I even had Niksik come on this trip because I need him to remind me what the humans said was the truth! Have we been taking over whole galaxies to do something that was never our task to begin with? What purpose do I even serve? I don't even..." Stellara stopped herself, she would reveal what she told Mabel to anyone else. "I'm the Empress! I shouldn't be doubting myself! The last person I shared my doubts with lied to me!"

"Stellara, you're not alone, I have been doubting myself for thirteen years. Before he faked his death, Dipper Pines asked me what I thought justice was and while I never faltered in my duty that question is always in the back of mind. Is what we're doing just? But I keep doing my duty because you and all of the Imperium needs me to."

"Then I will do my duty as well because my subjects need me to too."

Duradis entered the room, "We have their location on the planet."

"Then it is time we finish them." Stellara then muttered, "Avenging mother is the one thing of which I have no doubt."

"Regent Duradis…" Captain Kondar asked over the loudspeakers. "…I still haven't been briefed on the new systems you had installed on my ship or the cargo you had brought aboard that you insist no one disturb."

Duradis went to the nearby private terminal. "Captain, you shouldn't talk about things I have marked classified over the P.A.! You will be briefed when the time is right but now, we are about to go into battle!" Duradis the sighed and thought, _"It will be over soon, I will bring order to this universe."_

A lot of the media were parked in front of Gravity Falls Church, leaving room for people to enter. The Pines family insisted that the event would be close family and friends only, so the reporters were stuck outside looking in with government agents keeping them from getting too close. One person allowed in was an old man with a face like Stan and Ford, but he didn't wear glasses, he wore a kippah on his bald head, and a bow tie. "Grandpa Shermy!" Mabel said giving her grandfather a hug with Dipper standing right beside her. Both in a wedding dress and tux respectively.

"Look at you Mabel, just as beautiful as your grandma on our wedding day." Sherman Pines said,

"We're sorry we weren't here when she passed." Dipper said, "We made a place in the guest seating for her and everyone who died while we were gone."

"You don't have to apologize for something you couldn't help Dipper. If anything, I'm sorry I haven't come to see you until now."

"You live on the other side of the country grandpa." Mabel said, "With our ship we could have made the time to come visit. But let's stop all gloomy talk, this is a wedding! I got to check on the preparation in the reception tent, Dipper get him to his seat, and we'll talk more later. You are going to love Giddy and Pacifica."

As Mabel walked off Dipper told his grandfather, "You teaching her magic tricks helped saved us once."

"Your parents told me about that. Dipper I'm proud of the both of you." Sherman said, never telling them how the mosquito bites were bothering him or the they spelled SIMP.

Pacifica was talking with her mother in the reception tent. "I'm surprised you wanted something so simple with everything Pacifica." Priscilla said, "The location, the dresses, the most elaborate thing in this wedding is the cake and that was at Mabel's request."

"More frosting! More I say!" Mabel shouted at the caterers,

"I lived off of simple for a long-time mom, just having the people I care about here is all I really need." Pacifica said wearing her wedding dress, "Things seemed to be in order here, the wedding is going to start soon, you better get inside mom."

"For years I never thought I would see you like this." Priscilla tired not to cry,

Inside Erika Gleeful fidgeted in her light blue dress. "I only wear things like this for special occasions, so you better appreciate this big bro."

In his Tux Gideon smiled, "Of course I do Erika. You know for a long time I was just happy being out in space with Mabel, I became the best version of myself out there. I mostly only wanted to come home because the others did, and I wanted them to be safe and happy. But when we came back, I found out I had a sister and getting to know you has been the best thing about coming home. You're strong and independent but there's a heart beneath all that really cares about the people around you, I'm proud to be your brother."

Erika punch Gideon in the shoulder, "You big goof! If anyone should be proud it's me. I haven't done anything nearly as amazing as the things you did."

"Not yet."

"Erika, you better take your seat sweetie, we're about to start." Bud said,

Dipper and Gideon steeped up to the alter and spoke to the skinny minister who had glasses and white hair. "Thank you for doing this Father Williams." Dipper said, "It means a lot to my parent that you do this and thanks for talking with us last week, it's like a weight has been taken off of us all."

Father Williams smiled and said, "It was my pleasure Mason, Andrew and Sarah are active and well-loved members of my church. When they found out about your return, they called me, and I led the congregation in a round of amens and hallelujahs."

"I would have thought most religious folks would have freaked out when we told the world aliens were real." Gideon said,

"I see it as that you four are going to open the way for us to tell countless lives out there the good news of God's love. Now you two better get ready, the bridesmaids and groomsmen are coming."

Soos, Wendy, teary eyed Stan using a cane, Robbie, Candy, and Grenda came up in tuxes and dresses. "Thanks for being our best man Soos, Robbie you got those certificates ready? That why we're doing this whole thing." Dipper said,

Soos gave a thumbs up. "Honored dude."

"It's on the desk in the back office." Robbie said,

Gideon turned to the bridesmaids. "Candy, Grenda, I just want to say for Mabel that the only reason she agreed to let Wendy be maid of honor was because she didn't want to choose between the two of you."

"We're fine." Grenda waved her hand,

"Mabel didn't want to risk our friendship ending after she just got back over a stupid title." Candy said,

"Guys, it's starting." Wendy whispered as the organ began playing. Dipper looked at some of the people in the pews. His mom and Priscilla sat next to each other, across from them were the Gleefuls, Soostron held up the scantrix so Ixcia could see, Ford and grandpa Shermy looked so proud, Tambry held out a tissue for Agent Trigger who told them he also always cried at weddings, Candy and Grenda's families, Grey Frost whom became so close to them these few months. Lastly in the front was a set pictures of those they wished could be there, Dipper and Mabel's grandma, Gideon's grandparents, Fiddleford Mcgucket, and lastly Waddles. R.J. walked down the aisle not dropping the rings, Robbie looked so proud of his son knowing all the practice paid off. Amelia was next throwing the petals and Dipper could almost swear there were tears in Wendy's eyes. Mabel came in with their father, as Mabel stepped before the alter Andrew took a seat next to Sarah. Finally, Pacifica and Preston walked down the aisle, after they did much the same the couples stared into each other's eyes.

Father Williams then began, "Dearly beloved, we have gathered here today to renew the vows of holy matrimony between Mason and Pacifica Pines and Gideon and Mabel Gleeful. They have shared the joys, blessings, and yes, the challenges, of married life for seven years. And, today you wish to reconfirm your commitment to working together to make your marriage grow and blossom in the years to come. May this ceremony, renewing the vows you took to become husband and wife on your wedding day, remind you that despite the stresses inevitable in every life, your love, respect, trust and understanding of each other will continue to increase your contentment and heighten your joy in living. You have written your own vows. Mason and Pacifica please go first."

Dipper took a breath. "Pacifica, for these past seven years you have been my strength. Whenever I felt powerless or afraid all I had to do was think of you and I found the will to push on. We have come across the universe together and today I vow that we'll keep moving forward side by side always."

Pacifica looked right into Dipper's eyes, "Mason you have been there for me even back when I was a spoiled brat. You saved my life more than once. You pulled me out me out of a nightmare I thought would never end. And you never stopped until we found our way back home. But most of all you shown me that I'm more than my blood or wealth. You are my North Star that will never leave me in the darkness."

Gideon got the silent signal to begin. "Mabel, you have never let me down. Loving you was what put me on the right path. You made me a better man. You are my best friend, my hope, my joy. I want to be the shield to keep you from harm, your confidant, and the one who will always be your side."

Mabel almost cried, "Gideon all those years ago when we met, I had no idea that the boy I hated would become the love of my life. You are my rock, and I don't know if it was fate, luck, or something else that brought us together, but I wouldn't trade having you in my life for anything. I love you."

Father Williams continued, "Please put on your rings and hold hands." Soos handed their rings back to them and the slipped them on each other's fingers before holding hands. "Mason, will you continue to have Pacifica as your wife and continue to live in this marriage?"

"I will." Dipper said,

"Do you reaffirm your love for her, and will you love, honor and cherish her in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, for better for worse, and forsaking all others, be faithful to her as long as you both shall live?"

"I do."

"Pacifica, will you continue to have Mason as your husband and continue to live in this marriage?"

"I will." Pacifica said,

"Do you reaffirm your love for him, and will you love, honor and cherish him in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, for better for worse, and forsaking all others, be faithful to him as long as you both shall live?"

"I do."

"Gideon, will you continue to have Mabel as your wife and continue to live in this marriage?

"I will." Gideon said,

"Do you reaffirm your love for her, and will you love, honor and cherish her in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, for better for worse, and forsaking all others, be faithful to her as long as you both shall live?"

"I do."

"Mabel, will you continue to have Gideon as your husband and continue to live in this marriage?"

"I will." Mabel said,

"Do you reaffirm your love for him, and will you love, honor and cherish him in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, for better for worse, and forsaking all others, be faithful to him as long as you both shall live?"

"I do."

"I ask that you each remember to continue to cherish each other as special and unique individuals and that you each respect the thoughts and ideas of one another. And most of all, be able to forgive each other, and not hold grudges against one another. Live each day in love with each other, always being there to give love, comfort, and refuge to each other, in good times and bad. Gideon, Mabel, Mason, and Pacifica, today you have renewed the promises and vows you made to each other on your wedding day. You have symbolized the renewal of the marriage union by the joining of hands, the taking of vows, and by the wearing of your wedding rings. It is with pleasure that I conclude the ceremony of renewing the vows of marriage that joined you and binds you as husband and wife. Please celebrate this renewal of vows with a kiss!"

The four kissed and cheers went all around. The two couples joined everyone at the reception tent after signing the marriage certificates. They took their places behind the table and nodded that now was the time. "Everyone we have an announcement to make." Dipper said with a smile,

The next thing everyone knew the sky became violet even though it was barely past noon. "The family Pines, crew of the Ixcia! This is Empress Stellara, daughter of the woman you murdered! Come and face me!" They all heard from a loudspeaker. Everyone came out of the tent and saw both an Imperium destroyer and that the whole valley was now inside a purple cube of energy. Beneath the Hand of Suprema were over a hundred centurions and officers some on floating skiffs. Stellara was in the front holding the Halberd of the Empress.

Dipper was in shock, "How? They would need to look for centuries to find this planet!"

"Wondering how we found you?" Duradis asked from the Hand over the loudspeaker, "I had that quantum infuser you stole planted in that wreck along with a prototype tracker. The field surrounding this settlement is the latest in Imperium shielding trapping you inside, not even five destroyers like this on can penetrate it! And finally, this ship has been installed with a new neural interface allowing me to control this ship with my thoughts leaving the whole crew ready to fight by the Empress' side."

"No…" Mabel said, "We brought them here."

"We have overridden all transmissions on the planet." Stellara said, "Your whole world will watch you die in my final trial to ascend to the diamond throne before they all die for the crime of heresy." Stellara raised her hand and gave an order, "I want all enemy forces captured! The Pines will be the first to die by my hand! It is a mercy I give them that they will die before their people curse them for bringing their doom upon them!"

Ixcia flew in firing at the Hand of Suprema and landed in front of the church. "Everyone, get onboard now!" The Imperium forces swept around and began capturing people. Dipper, Mabel, Gideon, and Pacifica got in first out of habit drilled into them by years on the run, Soostron dragged Erika onboard while she screamed about fighting back, Ford helped Stan in, Wendy and Grey picked up Amelia who was crying and ran her inside the ship, Soos was the last one on board as he tried to get his family on but the Imps pulled them away as Ixcia closed the cargo bay door and flew off into the woods cloaked.

"No!" Dipper yelled hitting the wall. "We were supposed to be done with sh…"

"Dipper! Small child present!" Wendy scolded.

"Sorry this... is our fault! We lead them right to earth."

"And was because we made the same mistake four times!" Mabel shouted, "The first Dipper and I were sent to prison almost got executed, then our whole family was sent to a different prison where could we have been eaten by alien bugs, and the last time Soostron was almost scrapped! Now we've doomed our friends, our family, and the whole planet!"

"Ford does your equipment still have records on the scans you took of Dipper and Mabel? Because right now I'm wondering these two really are them." Stan asked,

"What?" the brother and sister said,

"Well you two certainly aren't acting like either the brave kids I knew or the heroic space adventures I've been hearing about. Neither of those two would be standing around blaming themselves for something when they could be doing something about it. You're the Mystery Twins, right? There nothing you can't do when you work together."

"Well what can we do? The Imps can track us with that device even through the cloak!" Mabel said,

"Negative." Ixcia said, I inflicted severe damage to the destroyer's sensors."

"And I just found it the thing and smashed it Angel." Gideon said coming from the engine room. "Voidarium, same stuff that hid the way home for years. We couldn't have found it even if I scanned this the infuser for months."

Dipper shook his head, "But still Stellara won't rest until she fights us and if we kill her then the Imps will take the gloves off and kill every human on sight."

"Then don't fight her, talk to her Mason." Pacifica held up a tablet. "You promised Veritas that you'd give this to her and now's your chance to do it."

"It is." Dipper said gaining confidence, "Like I said before you're my strength. Still with that army we might not even be to get into a position to talk with Stellara and we can't get help from the outside."

Wendy began laughing. "Dude I know with being away for a long time, jetting around the world, and trying to get your lives back to normal for three months you had a lot on your mind. But remember where you are, Gravity Falls!"

"We have the pacts we told you about and we've been keeping the creatures of this town in the loop with everything you told us. One magical S.O.S. from me and I'm sure they'll come to fight for their planet." Grey said,

"And we want to help you dudes save our families and end this whole mess once and for all." Soos added,

"Yeah let's kick some butt!" Erika fist pumped.

"Okay but let do this smart." Mabel said, "Soos you got spare clothes at the shack everyone who's helping in this will need to wear stuff that won't get in the way.,"

"Wendy, Grey, you got your weapons?" Dipper asked,

Wendy pulled out her gun from under her skirt while Grey held up the Orb of Boreas. "Never leave home without them." Wendy said,

Mabel then said, "Amelia will need to be put some place safe with Erika and Grunkle Stan."

"Why should I stay out of this fight?" Stan asked,

"Grunkle Stan you need help walking now! You need to look after Erika and Amelia."

"Oh, come on!" Erika complained,

"Mabel's right Erika you can't join us." Gideon said, "You may do stunts, but this is different, and I couldn't face mom and dad if you got hurt."

"Ford, while we're out there you should man the helm while Soos should take tactical. Ixcia is still the strongest weapon we have." Pacifica explained,

"Understood." Ford said,

Soos looked serious, "After a lifetime of playing video games the time has come to fulfill my destiny."

Dipper then said, "We better get things done fast, at the very least Duradis won't wait forever. You all heard Stellara this is her final trail before he has to step down. If he's going to make a move it's now or never."

A short time later the Ixcia crew had just changed clothes and got their weapons. Gideon cleared his throat, "Mabel, Paz, Dipper and I were talking, and we want to two of you to sit this out."

Dipper then held up his hands, "And before you say anything it's only because we don't want anything to happen to the babies."

"Guys we understand why but…" Mabel said,

Pacifica finished, "But they are still after all of us and their orders were to bring us back alive. Something could still happen and if we don't stop this then something will happen to the babies."

"We're facing this head on to give them a future like we have from the start!" Mabel held up both her blaster and old grappling hook. "I'm even bringing this, so I can zip around and shoot at the same time."

Both men sighed, "There's no changing you minds." Dipper said, "Just be careful."

They went outside and were greeted by some familiar faces. "You guys really know how to ruin a gnome's personal time! But a pact is a pact." Jeff the gnome said,

"Shmebulock." Shmebulock said nodding,

"This battle is going to be the manliest thing ever! And look at you Destructor you became a real man all on your own." Chutzpar the Manotaur said slapping Dipper on the back nearly knocking him down.

"Uh, thanks." Dipper said,

A blue flame appeared and took the form of the lumberjack ghost. "I never gave you my name, I am Archibald Corduroy I and other spirts wish to aide you in this time of need."

"Wait so you're…" Wendy tried to say.

"Your ancestor." Archibald said, "I came to help both my kin and the redeemer of the Northwests and I am not alone."

A bright light appeared, and Gideon was shocked, "Heya Punwidge, you really came a long way." It was the ghost of Holar.

"I see you've kept up with your training." Draga said,

Grual laughed, "Looks like the Raider are in for one last fight."

"Gideon thank you for letting me see these amazing trees." Chugar floated up to look her friend in the eye who was now taller than her.

"Guys…how?" Gideon almost cried,

McGucket's ghost appeared next. "Your magical thingamajig reached that little feller and he brought us." He pointed to a wisp that turned into a ghostly pig,

"Waddles!" Mabel cheered as the ghost pig licked her face,

"Other creatures are waiting to act at the spots best suited for them."

"Okay here's the plan." Dipper began explaining,

Not far away in Ixcia's cargo bay Stan and Erika were not happy. "Last time some this big happened I held everyone back. Now I can't help." Stan said,

"Who says we can't?" Erika point straight up at the jet bike and power loader. "I do love Gideon, but I get enough over protection from my parents. I call dibs on the bike."

"Erika, while I have been warming up to your brother knowing how much Mabel loves him, I always liked you more."

On one of the skiffs Kondar complained to Duradis. "They hit that same spot in our first encounter, you should let me bring a repair team aboard."

"They cannot escape, just keep looking!" Duradis ordered,

On the ground Rubya talked to Vax, "You are our expert where would they go to hide?"

"They won't hide for long." Vax said, "Be ready for any kind of trick and expect the unexpected."

Buckgis was worried. "Empress are you certain you wish our forces to keep their weapons on stun?"

"We mustn't question her decisions; this is her trial." Niksik said,

"I must face them myself." Stellara growled and then shouted, "Show yourself you cowards!"

"We're right here Stellara but we don't want to fight you!" Dipper said as Ixcia decloaked,

"We only want to talk." Mabel pleaded, as the Pines family stepped out of the ship,

"I do not talk to liars and murderers!" Stellara charged,

"Everyone now! Remember just wound them!" Dipper yelled,

At that moment the gnomes came together to make their giant while Waddles grew into a giant boar and the two swatted a lot of soldiers away. "Good ghost pig!" Mabel said,

Gideon flew up with the raiders right to Kondar's skiff. "Raiders roll!"

"Remember me?" Holar asked as the raider flew into the engines of the skiffs shorting them out,

"You, you're dead!" Kondar shouted,

"Not that big of a deal here." Gideon said opening fire.

"I don't care how you're doing this! You cost me the respect of my fellow captains, not to mention my hair!" Kondar returned fire,

"Oh, get over it cue ball!" Erika said flying in on the jet bike doing flip and rolls that made nearby skiffs shoot each other by accident,

Who is that?" Chugar asked,

Gideon landed on Kondar's skiff, "That's my little sister Erika. I told you stay out of this!" Gideon and Kondar began wrestling.

"And miss all the fun? No way!" Erika said kicking an officer,

"Well she seems like a Raider to me." Grual said as Gideon gave a body blow

"Why didn't you say you had a sister?" Chugar asked,

"Because he didn't know he had one until he got back." Erika said,

The Manotaurs charged along with Wendy and Grey to where the Imps were keeping their prisoners. "Man! Man! Man!"

"Stop those things! They are in league with that heretic Dipper Pines!" Rubya ordered as a bullet grazed her stony thigh,

"Lady, Dipper and the rest are better people then you give them credit for; I think you should chill." Wendy said signaling her husband to blow an icy wind, freezing half a dozen centurions while other were stuck in fist fights with the manotaurs or were levitated by Archibald,

Rubya slammed her elec-warhammer into the ground making a shockwave the hit the Frosts to the ground and making Grey drop the orb. Vax came in close, "You're a friend of theirs? Then getting you should force them to surrender."

"No!" The group turned to see Amelia riding on Stan's shoulders while he was in the power loader. Stan grabbed hold of Vax while Amelia jumped down and picked up the orb. "Leave my Mommy and Daddy alone!" She tried to use the relic like how she saw her dad do it but while sloppy her hair turned white and when she blew the five-year-old made a whole mountain of ice that incased all of Rubya except her head.

"No! Defeated by a child?" Ruby said as Amelia hair turned back to normal as she yawned exhausted,

Archibald saw what happened, "A sight for this sprit old, that my smallest kin commands winter cold."

"She gets that from my side of the family." Grey said, "Wendy looks like we have a magical prodigy on our hands."

"And I'm very proud but sweetie you should give the orb back to Daddy and wait to use your magic until you're thirteen, so you don't put someone's eye out." Wendy said trying to keep calm about how her daughter might be more of a handful in her teens then Erika.

While this was happening Stan and Vax fought, "You're Vax, right? The guy who's been chasing my niece and nephew for over a decade!"

"A relative, you will be the key to getting my rep back." Vax said shooting his gun at Stan who blocked with the loader's arms.

"Not going to happen! You should quit while you still have a few original body parts left!"

"Oh? And why should an old man in a box carrier worry me? I can tell that thing is all that's letting you fight."

"You should worry because the only hairy old jerk that can harass my family is me!" Stan punched Vax in his cybernetic eyes breaking them, follow by tearing off his cybernetic limbs, Stan the though him into a parked van. "And that's how we did it in Jersey!

In the sky above Ford flew Ixcia dodging fire from the skiffs while Soos shot back. "To bad this doesn't have a high score because I am racking the hits up!" Soos said,

Ford chuckled, "Here a little trick I learned in dimension 78TX."

After the spinning maneuver a couple of centurions leapt on tried force open on of the airlock only for one to get hit by a stun blast followed by the other getting shocked by Soostron who made a few beeps. "Soostron is thanking you again for the upgrades Soos." Ixcia explained,

The Centurion were caught in midair by Mcgucket, "Stay calm fellers, we don't want any permanent damage."

Back on the ground Buckgis lead a squad in chase of Pacifica into the mini golf course. "You'll pay what you tried to do to my Empress!"

"I'd be careful boys even the smallest thing can give your trouble." Pacifica said as suddenly mini pencils were flying and Buckgis' squad was slipping on golf balls.

"This is our course you alien hugelings!" Franz yelled,

Buckgis growled, "Your aberration allies won't help you finish what you started eleven years ago! I won't let your friends kill Stellara!" Buckgis deflected one of the daggers Pacifica thrown at him with his shield. He swung at her, but Pacifica side stepped it and made a pulling motion making the knife fly back to her hand but not before hitting the man of stone in the back of the head.

While he was reeling from the hit Pacifica made her trident and used it to trip him on his back. "My family is not trying to kill her." Pacifica offered her hand, "We are trying to save her from the man who hired the felggur for assassination in the first place."

Stellara swung her halberd at the twins who kept dodging. "Fight back! I know you are capable fighters! Or do you think all you need with me are more lies?" Stellara asked,

"We don't want to hurt you Stellara." Dipper said, "I didn't kill your mother, in fact Veritas wanted me to give this to you." Dipper pulled out the tablet. "It contains the original sacred writings of your people. She wanted to share her faith as a child of Cosmodius."

"You are as big a liar as your sister! My mother was NOT a heretic! You are just trying to distract me like she did years ago by making up stories while you killed her!" Stellara swung again nearly taking Dippers head off.

"My sister didn't lie to you!"

"The proof is all around you. Look at the creatures that are helping us, don't they seem familiar?" Mabel said,

Stellara looked around, "It can't be…small breaded men making a giant, horned creatures talking about being men, what looks like real magic…" Stellara turned to Mabel and Dipper, "The Triangle Guy was Bill Cipher. You're Pine Tree and Shooting Star? Those stories were about you?" Stellara got on a wrist mount comm, "Niksik! Come to me at once!"

"I am here your grace." Niksik said who looked a little bruised,

"Tell him what happened that day. I must know the truth!" Stellara ordered, "All forces cease hostilities and listen."

"We broke into your palace because our friend Pacifica was brain washed by the felggur and they were hired to kill you Stellara. We came to save her and you." Mabel explained,

Dipper continued. "I met your mother who revealed herself to be a child of Cosmodius and she went to confront the one who ordered the assassination, Regent Duradis. I didn't kill her, she…was becoming a friend."

"They are telling the truth. You keep surprising me humans." Niksik said,

"But then the one who killed my mother..."

"Was me." Duradis said from the Hand of Suprema, "I really was hoping that you would kill her, I wouldn't need to edit the footage. I'll just have to do it myself."

"None of the centurions will let you do that!" Niksik shouted,

"Unfortunately, you will not be able to do anything about it." Duradis fired the ships weapons at the two armies but the blast it a giant wall of ice and the explosion sent several flying.

Grey collapsed. "That took all I had."

"Still standing? Luckily, I have a backup plan." A hatch opened at the bottom of the Hand of Suprema and hundreds of battle droids like the ones Crix used to use. "These will take care of the rest of you while I finish Stellara and all of the Pines, then I'll wipe out every human on the planet. With no witnesses I will take the reins of the Imperium and with the resources of forbidden space mine for the taking the Grand Cosmic Imperium will finally defeat its rivals and I will bring this universe to order! The Imperium needs a real ruler, not a puppet like Stellara or her father. You Pines want to know something? When the information of where you were from came in Emperor Grandus was taking a nap. I just passed the judgement he was expected to do in such a case. I am the one the made you heretics and forced you on the run!"

Dipper picked up Stellara and jetted into the woods with Mabel zipping beside them with her grappling hook. "Then thanks for the practice!" Dipper said sarcastically,

"Yeah now we're experts!" Mabel yelled,

"Don't think you can hide from me!" Duradis shouted as he had the ship pursue them.

The others were trying their hardest to fight back against the droids. "We got to find to a way help stop Duradis!" Gideon said as he blew a droid's head off,

"The only advantage we have is while that barrier is up the Hand of Suprema's shields will be down, but we don't have enough fire power to take it down. I know my ship." Kondar explained,

"Is there any weakness that we can exploit?" Pacifica asked slicing the arms of a droid,

Kondar shook his head, "Only a small access hatch but it is so small it only used by our repair drones and they are about the size of a small animal."

"Small like these gnomes?" Gideon asked,

"Maybe, but only one could enter and not trigger an alert activating the defense grid; we also can't fly a ship close enough to drop one off."

"I used to throw the football pretty good, this thing should let me chuck a gnome." Stan said with Vax hanging off his back.

"Who would go on such a dangerous mission?" Vax asked, "I'd like to see that double crosser go down just like the rest of you but what can one of these little guys do alone inside that ship?"

"Shmebulock." The gnome said stepping forward,

Gideon nodded, "Looks like we got a volunteer, what is your plan?"

"Wait all he said was his name." Stan scratched his head,

"Stan you forgot that our implants translate most languages, even ones consisting of just one word." Pacifica said, Shmebulock looked very happy as he explained his plan. Pacifica got on the comm, "Ford you still have that item Mabel asked you to hold unto if Ixcia changed her mind about the wedding?"

"Yes, I got right here." Ford said,

"I'm joining this plan, protecting Stellara is my sworn duty." Buckgis said as he flattened a droid with his hammer,

"Then this is how we should execute the plan." Kondar began go over the tactics,

In the forest Duradis was plowing through trees, "You know you're not fit to rule Stellara, I've seen the doubt in your eyes for years. The emperor must be one with absolute confidence in all he does."

"Stay out of her head you ass!" Mabel shouted as she dodged a blast,

"But I have had doubts." Stellara said,

"Doubts lead you to question things and could lead to better solutions." Dipper said, "Guys like him who think he can't make a mistake will never see them until it's too late." Dipper and Stellara landed on a branch. "Mabel, my boosters need to recharge! Toss me your old grapple."

"Got bro!" Dipper caught grappling hook Mabel threw.

Duradis closed in only for something to come flying out of the woods. "I can't see!"

"What are those?" Stellara asked,

"Eye bats." Dipper said as they zipped along,

"That was a minor stall at best." Duradis didn't notice Ixcia and a skiff fly in from behind,

"Soos open fire!" Gideon yelled as he shot at the destroyer.

This was just a distraction as Stan got ready for his throw on the skiff. "That should be the spot. Godspeed little guy." Stan tossed Shmebulock as hard as the suit would let him and the gnome crawled inside as Buckgis flew the skiff around and fired its weapons.

"Enough of these diversions! I'll take care of you later!" Duradis fire a shot at both ships as Gideon flew off with Pacifica hanging on,

"Mason we're coming!" Pacifica yelled,

"The whole family in line for one shot." Duradis fired his weapon causing a large explosion that threw the Pines family and the young empress out of the woods and into a clearing with a small stream.

"Uh, is everyone okay?" Mabel asked,

"I think so." Stellara said,

"I'm good." Gideon said,

"Wait a minute…" Dipper said as he helped his wife up, "This is our old campsite from when we were abducted."

"A fitting place for you all to die then! Here your journey began and where it will end!" Duradis said coming out of the woods, "You Pines have been running from my Imperium for your whole lives and now there is nowhere left to run." Duradis then heard a banging as a small gnome fell from a vent. "Is this their last hope? A small aberration?"

"Shmebulock!" Shmebulock shouted as Duradis was surprised by a blue glow.

The next thing everyone knew something large busted out from the Hand of Suprema as it fell to the ground, the barrier collapsing as it fell and all the droids shut down. It was a giant Shemulock hold Duradis, Dippers old shrink ray flashlight rolled to his feet. "That would do it. Let's get you back to normal." Dipper shrank the gnome to his normal height as they were surrounded by friends and former foes alike.

"Duradis!" Stellar yelled. "The trial of courage is for me to face my enemy in combat and now I know you are my true enemy!" Stellara charged him but the older celestanite threw a punch with his right hand making a small crater at where she just managed to jump away from.

"This cybernetic hand is how I killed your mother and now it will do the same to you!"

"Not if we can help it!" Mabel said but Buckgis stopped her,

"As much as it pains me nothing must interfere with this battle. Stellara must prove her worth not just to us but to herself."

The two continued to fight Stellara swinging her halberd and Duradis using his cybernetic hand. Duradis ducked under one swing meant to take off his head and got his hand around the girl's throat. "All these years later and now you will die. All that training for nothing." Duradis laughed, but with one free hand Stellara reached into a small pouch on her belt and threw it's shining contents into Duradis' face! "My eyes!"

"I know what you mean dude." Soos said, "Attack glitter, it's pretty but it hurts."

"I was saving that for Mabel but now it ensures my victory!" Stellara chopped off Duradis, right hand which sparked and kicked him to the ground and pointed her weapon at him.

"Stellara don't do it!" Dipper pleaded! "Too many died because of him, don't let there be anymore."

Stellara breathed heavily and then stabbed the halberd into the ground. "He's right you're not worth it. We are going to bring you back home and you will spend the rest of your days in the smallest, darkest cell we can find. I want you to live with your defeat for a long time and know that you can never win."

Duradis looked and the Pines family. "You…all of this is your fault!" Duradis jumped up and ran toward the humans a man possessed with rage.

"Duradis!" Dipper and Mabel said, "Don't mess with our family!" the two of them both gave a solid punch to his face knocking him out cold.

A short time later a camera drone was recording the coronation ceremony. Kondar placed a jeweled gold circlet on Stellara's head. "Having completed all three trials of ascension we give our praise to Empress Stellara the first."

The Imperium forces cheered as Stellara raised her hands. "My first command as a fully realized empress is to correct the errors my ancestors made in ignorance, from this day onward the races of what was once known as forbidden space including humanity are no longer to be considered heretics. This includes the Pines family who through their courage and cleverness revealed the traitor Duradis, thus the bounty on their heads is rescinded and are now to be considered heroes of the Imperium!" In Isoban this was being seen in places like the club Prism on Kodex station, Snarl watched with his three grown children.

"Well I'm never getting my record back now." Vax who got spare cybernetic parts grumbled,

"As regent Duradis has done much to cast doubt on if our conquests were right, therefore all worlds taken under both his time as regent and as advisor to my father shall be granted the choice if they wish to remain in the Imperium but if they wish to leave they must erase all criminal records of the Pines family."

In a bar the transmission was being watched by Piker who was holding both the picture of the Raiders and Gideon's dog tags. "You did it, kid. You and your friends."

On the bridge of his battleship Worvri saw the news, "They did it, they freed us and now we can all go home."

Stellara continued, "Events in the last year have made me question some of our long-held beliefs, and I will be spending time reflecting on the sacred writings. This may lead to reforms that will allow more religious freedom within the Imperium."

On planet Rin-Tou Hok-Hok looked away to a photo of himself, Hou-Hou, and all the former felggur they helped. "Grandfather, they performed another miracle."

"My thoughts are with all my subjects and I will return soon." Stellara turned to Buckgis as the drone finished recording, "How long will the repairs take?"

"One week."

"The end of the summer and our birthday." Mabel said, "The first birthday cake we've had in fifteen years."

"What is cake?" Stellara asked,

"We have one back at our wedding vow renewal reception, you can join us and find out." Dipper said,

"Seven years, now I feel old." Kondar said,

The aliens got plenty of stares at the tent and Stellara did agree to interviews and meetings later but for now Mabel held a slice of cake for the young empress. "We already ran scans, it's harmless to you."

Stellara took one bite and her eyes went wide. "This is the best thing I ever tasted! No wonder you all wanted to go back so badly!"

"I must say, this has been the most exciting thing I've experienced in years." Sherman Pines chuckled,

"Now that everyone is here, we have an announcement we wanted to make." Pacifica said,

The Pines family held hands and with big smiles said, "We're having babies!" There was a lot of cheering and squealing.

"Andrew we're going to be grandparents!" Sarah almost shook her husband's eyes out.

"My little girl…" Preston cried,

"Did you pick any names yet?" Grenda asked,

"Can I play with them?" Amelia was hopping up and down,

"Well I am going to be a cool aunt." Erika said,

"You really are amazing." Vax said, "You faced a giant warship with only hand weapons while pregnant and got flung dozens of feet by an explosion and you kids are fine."

"The explosion!" Dipper yelled panicked,

"With everything going on we didn't think to check on them!" Gideon said,

"No! No! No!" Mabel sobbed,

Dipper pulled out the scantrix, "Ixcia run a scan! We need to know the health of each of the babies!"

"Please be okay, please be okay." Pacifica begged,

"Scan complete." Ixcia said, "All four of your children are fine."

"That's a relief…" Mabel said before realizing what Ixcia said,

"Four!?" Everyone in the tent said,

"Yes, both Mabel and Pacifica are having twins. You asked on the status of each of them" Ixcia explained,

Stan and Ford couldn't help but laugh. "Well looks like there's going to be two more pairs of Mystery Twins." Stan said, "Anyway I've been waiting to sing. I always had faith that Dipper and Mabel would come back, so in that spirit this song is for you. We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when. But I know we'll meet again some sunny day…" Ford looked slightly concerned but shook the feeling off.

Stellara cleared her throat, "Speaking of Mystery Twins, Mabel you never did finish all your stories to me. Now that I know that they are real will you tell them to me again from the begining?"

"Of course." Mabel said,

"You'll hear how these two made Gideon and me better people." Pacifica agreed,

"Why don't you start Dipper?" Gideon asked,

"Okay." Dipper thought how best to start, "Ah, summer break…"

One week later after Dipper and Mabel's 29th birthday party it was time to say goodbye to their former enemies. Stellara opened a small box, inside were for crystal medals. "This is the light of Primeros, the Imperium's highest honor." Stellara explained, "I reward the four of you with these in honor of your aid in defeating Duradis and ridding my subjects of the great enemy Bill Cipher. I will ensure my people will remember your world as friends and the four of you as heroes forever."

The group heard Rubya say something as she got abroad. "Buckgis I still don't understand why those humans keep saying their happy for us all because I caught some flowers."

"Thank you, Empress Stellara, and know your mother would be proud to see the young woman you've grown into." Dipper said deciding not to push things,

"What is the next adventure you plan to go on?"

"Simple, raising our kids." Mabel said, "We had a lot of extraordinary adventures, it's time for some ordinary ones."

"I understand, goodbye my friends. I know Isoban wasn't a pleasant place for you all, but you left your mark there and I am sure many would wish to see you again." Stellara entered the destroyer and it flew into the evening sky and out of sight.

Dipper breathed a sigh. "The one good thing about Duradis focusing on Stellara was that none of his cameras caught any clear images of the anomalies."

"Good, there should always be a little mystery in Gravity Falls." Mabel said, "Besides I'm glad one ghost decided to stick around." Mabel's Waddles plush walked up beside her possessed by the ghost of the real Waddles. "I got my pig back."

"Still Mason more people will be coming with us living here." Pacifica held Dipper's hand.

"Things will die down a little after other people will make discoveries in space and we begin to pull back into whatever passes for normal life." Gideon took Mabel's hand,

They all looked up to the stars and thought of all they done since they were taken and returned. Now the Pines family could truly focus on their future and all the joys and challenges that lay ahead, secure in the knowledge could always come back to their home in Gravity Falls.


End file.
